Historical   Development   of   the 

New  York  State  High 

School  System 


BY 

WALTER  JOHN  GIFFORD,  Ph.D. 

Dean  and  Head  of  the  Department  of  Education, 

State  Normal  School,  Harrisonburg,  Va. 


ALBANY,  N.  Y. 
J,  B    I. YON  COMPANY,  PRINTERS 


% 


\ 


''-''^^r^'^^r^^^r 


^i53 


ooii 


-SUt 


Graph  for  Table  XII. 


High  schools  reporting. 
Academies  reporting. 
High  schools  admitted. 
Academies  admitted. 


1840      45         50         55        60        65        70         75        80        85        9X)        95        00         05         10 


Historical   Development   of   the 

New  York  State   High 

School  System 


a-^^ 


^a 


BY 

WALTER  JOHN  GIFFORD,  Ph.D. 

Dean  and  Head  of  the  Department  of  Education, 
State  Normal  School,  Harrisonburg,  Va. 


ALBANY,  N,  Y. 

J.  B.  LYON  COMPANY,  PRINTERS 

1922 


3t^.'!4-f 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Foreword 5 

PART   I 

Introduction 9 

Chapter  i 

Educational  Developments  in  New  York  prior  to  1853 10 

Introduction. 

1.  Education  in  colonial  New  York.  The  Dutch  public  Latin  Schools. 
English  public  and  private  schools.  Schools  of  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel. 

2.  Development  of  the  academy  system.  Establishment  of  the  University 
of  the  State  of  New  York.  Growth  of  the  academy.  The  Literature  Fund, 
Expansion  of  the  curriculum.  Monitorial  High  Schools.  Academy,  a 
quasi-public  institution. 

3.  Development  of  the  elementary  school  system.  Early  legislation  and 
status,  1 795-1 837.  Increased  state  support  and  consolidation  or  union  of 
districts.  Establishment  of  city  systems,  following  the  decay  of  the  monito- 
rial societies. 

Summary  and  conclusions. 

Chapter  2 

Legal  Status  of  the  New  York  High  School  System 52 

Introduction. 

1.  Special  legislation  granting  public  privileges  to  certain  academies. 
Creation  of  public  secondary  schools,  free  academies,  union  schools. 

2.  Union  free  school  legislation.  Act  of  1853.  Consolidated  law  of  1864 
and  its  revisions. 

3.  University  control  of  academical  departments  or  high  schools.  Uni- 
versity acts  of  1889  and  1892.  Unification  act  of  1904.  Regents'  ordinances 
1 787-1904. 

Summary  and  conclusions. 

Chapter  3 
Establishment  of  High  Schools  and  their  Admission  into  the  University.  .     68 

1.  Terminology  in  use  in  New  York;  academical  department,  equivalent 
to  high  school.     Usage  of  term  high  school  in  New  York  prior  to  1850. 

2.  Early  New  York  high  schools.  Lockport  Union  School.  New  York 
Free  Academy.     Curriculums  of  secondary  schools  in  1850. 

3.  Admission  to  the  Universit}';  laws  and  ordinances,  1800  to  1900. 
Establishment  of  four  grades  of  academical  departments,  1894. 

4.  Establishment  of  high  schools.  Tabular  views  of  those  recognized  by 
1880.  Typical  local  developments.  Schools  established  by  years  and  quin- 
quennials.    Rapid  increase  after  1890.     Consequent  raising  of  standards. 

5.  Factors  conditioning  development  of  high  schools  in  New  York. 
Inadequacies  of  union  free  school  law.  Status  of  elementary  schools. 
Dominance  of  academy  tradition.     Slow  progress  of  free  high  school  idea. 

Summary  and  conclusions. 

PART   II 
Introduction 115 

Chapter  4 
State  Aid  to  High  Schools  and  its  Distribution 117 

1.  State  funds,  and  appropriations.  Literature  Fund.  United  States, 
Deposit  Fund.  State  tax  of  1872-3.  Increased  appropriations  of  1887 
1895,  and  successive  years. 

2.  Distribution  and  apportionment  of  the  Literature  Fund  and  state 
appropriations.  Early  basis  of  attendance  as  indicated  by  school  reports. 
Higher  standards  of  academic  work.  Examinations  as  major  basis  of  dis- 
tribution. The  quota  for  equalization  of  aid  to  weaker  schools.  Non- 
resident tuition  aid.     Scholarships  to  promising  high  school  graduates. 

Summary  and  conclusions. 

l3l 


4  THE    NEW    YORK   STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

Chapter  5  page 

Academic  Examinations  and  the  High  School  Course  of  Study 131 

Introduction. 

1.  Period  of  delegation  of  the  examining  power  to  the  academies,  1828- 
1865.  University  control  of  the  secondary  couse  of  study  throughRegents' 
Instructions. 

2.  The  Regents'  preliminar>^  examinations.  Function,  that  of  providing 
means  to  adequate  distribution  of  funds.  Progress  in  system;  correction  of 
evils. 

3.  Establishment  of  Academic  Examinations,  1 864-1 883.  Effort  to 
establish  uniform  college  entrance  requirements.  Law  of  1877.  Origin  of 
first  examination  schedule.  Changes  of  the  next  five  years.  Syllabuses  of 
1880  and  1882. 

4.  Revision  of  1890.  Part  played  by  University  Convocation  and  Asso- 
ciated Academic  Principals.  The  count  as  the  unit  of  academic  work.  First 
detailed  syllabus  and  the  treatment  of  certain  studies. 

5.  Revision  of  1895.  Utilization  of  Report  of  Committee  on  Ten  of 
N.  E.  A.  Specific  revisions.  The  three-year  course  in  English.  Renewal 
of  discussion  of  uniform  college  entrance  requirements.  Influence  of 
academic  examinations. 

6.  Revision  of  1900.  Activity  of  the  Associated  Academic  Principals. 
Organization  of  four-year  programs.  Courses  in  commercial  branches, 
home  science  and  manual  training.  New  requirements  in  English  literature 
and  laboratory  science. 

7.  Recent  development  in  the  examination  system.  Revisions  of  1905 
and  1910.  New  college  entrance  diplomas.  Broadened  conception  of  the 
syllabus.     Acceptance  of  principals'  ratings. 

Summary  and  conclusions. 

Chapter  6 
Reporting  and  Inspection 173 

1.  Reporting  and  Inspection,  1 790-1 890.  Requirements  of  visitation  of 
University  Act  of  1787.  Detailed  annual  school  reports  required  in  lieu  of 
inspection.  Brief  effort  at  inspection,  1 853-1 874.  Inspection  of  teachers' 
training  classes  in  secondary  schools  by  appointed  inspector. 

2.  Establishment  of  systematic  inspection.  Status  of  reporting,  1880- 
1890.  Appointment  of  first  inspectors.  Early  specialization;  apparatus 
and  English  inspectors.  Results  of  inspection.  Recent  tendency  ot  throw 
emphasis  upon  inspection  or  supervision  rather  than  reporting  and 
examinations. 

Summary  and  conclusions. 

Chapter  7 

.Summary  of  Conclusions  and  Interpretation  of  Tendencies 1 87 

1.  Educational  conditions  and  influences  of  period  prior  to  rise  of  the 
High  School.  Public  secondary  education  in  colonial  New  York.  Place 
of  the  academy  in  New  York  education.  Development  of  the  elementary 
school. 

2.  Comparative  view  of  the  establishment  of  high  schools.  The  establih- 
ment  and  admission  of  hig  h  schools.  Comparative  view  of  rise  of  high 
school  in  New  York  and  elsewhere.     Distribution  of  schools  and  pupils. 

3.  The  state  system  of  secondary  education.  Classification  and  stand- 
ardization of  schools.  Distribution  of  state  aid  to  high  schools.  The 
Regents'  examinations  and  the  state  course  of  study.  Reporting  and 
inspection  of  high  schools. 

Bibliography 1 99 


FOREWORD 

The  public  high  school  has  developed  from  uncertain  beginnings 
in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  through  a  steady  luit 
progressively  more  rapid  growth  in  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
and  the  early  years  of  the  twentieth  centuries  into  a  place  in  the 
American  educational  system  little  less  questioned  than  that  of  the 
elementary  school.  The  problems  incident  to  this  rapid  develop- 
ment are  now  taxing  the  best  resources  of  administrators  and 
students  of  education.  The  literature  of  the  subject  is  daily  becom- 
ing more  voluminous,  as  instanced  recently  in  the  fact  that  a  single 
aspect  presented  enough  material  for  a  bibliographical  bulletin  of 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education.^ 

It  is  probable  that  there  remain  few  vestiges  of  the  earlier  dis- 
position to  doubt  the  legitimacy  of  the  right  and  obligation  of  the 
State  to  support,  by  permanent  funds,  taxation  and  appropriations, 
the  high  school  as  well  as  the  elementary  school,  or  as  to  the  corre- 
sponding right  of  the  State  to  supervise  its  activities  in  some  maimer. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  great  variations  in  the  extent  and  nature 
of  this  support  and  supervision  indicate  something  of  the  variant 
views  as  to  the  actual  and  potential  functioning  of  the  institution. 
Moreover  numerous  other  matters,  such  as  the  organization  and 
contents  of  the  curriculums  or  programs  of  studies,  the  institutional 
correlation  with  the  lower  and  higher  schools,  and  the  administra- 
tion of  the  social  and  corporate  life  of  the  school,  are  the  occasion 
for  frequent  radical  proposals  of  reform  and  modification. 

It  would  seem  therefore  that  any  contribution  that  might  be  made 
in  the  way  of  ti^acing  back  the  historical  traditions  and  precedents 
of  high  school  practices  should  be  of  aid  in  their  present  diagnosis. 
The  main  source  of  information  in  this  regard  has  been  the  scholarly 
work  of  Dr  Elmer  E.  Brown,  formerly  United  States  Commissioner 
of  Education,  "  The  Making  of  our  Middle  Schools,"  published  in 
1902.  The  pioneer  nature  of  this  book,  however,  made  impracticable 
the  utilization  of  special  researches  other  than  careful  but  sometimes 
biased  accounts  of  early  individual  schools.  Most  later  descriptions 
of  the  development  of  American  secondary  education  have  been 
greatly  indebted  to  this  work  and  have  in  general  accepted  its  main 


*  Bibliography  of  the  Relation  of  Secondary  Schools  to  Higher  Education ; 
Bui.,  1914,  No.  32,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education. 


O  Till-:    NEW    YORK    SI  ATI-:    iUCll    SCHOOL    SVSTKM 

conclusions.-  Among  these  are  the  following:  (i)  the  develop- 
ment of  three  consecutive  well-defined  types  of  American  secondary 
schools,  the  Latin  grammar  school,  the  academy  and  the  high  school ; 
(2)  the  transition  in  most  states  from  an  early  individual  or  local 
development  of  high  schools  to  state  systems;  and  (3)  the  remark- 
able growth  anrl  diversification  of  the  high  school  in  the  last  twenty- 
five  years. 

Since  this  general  surve\'  was  made,  only  one  exhaustive  and 
intensive  study  has  appeared,  dealing  with  a  considerable  number 
of  schools.  This  is  the  monograph  of  Dr  Alexander  Inglis,  "  The 
Rise  of  the  High  School  in  Massachusetts."  Doctor  Inglis  limited 
his  study  largely  to  the  period  previous  to  i860  and,  aside  from 
indicating  the  progress  of  legislation  in  the  state,  he  established 
conclusively  the  number  of  schools  founded  in  that  period  and  the 
nature  of  the  curriculum.  This  was  made  possible  by  a  detailed 
research  through  the  local  town  records  and  reports  of  school 
committees  which  in  Massachusetts  have  been  preserved  with  great 
care. 

In  New  York,  with  which  this  study  is  concerned,  far  less  atten- 
tion has  until  recently  been  given  to  the  preservation  of  local  records 
except  for  the  colonial  period.  The  great  fire  which  gutted  the 
Capitol  at  Albany  in  191 1  destroyed  much  valuable  and  irreplaceable 
data  of  a  local  nature,  particularly  the  catalogs  of  schools.  The 
number  of  schools,  moreover,  was  seven  times  that  of  the  period 
studied  by  Inglis  in  Massachusetts,  making  such  a  mode  of  research 
as  that  used  by  him  impracticable.  There  are  on  the  other  hand 
very  full  records  both  of  the  lower  and  higher  schools  in  contem- 
poraneous annual  reports  of  the  appropriate  state  officials,  the  State 
Superintendent  and  the  Regents  of  The  University  of  the  State  of 
Xew  York.  As  various  educational  associations  within  and  withou 
the  State  began  to  be  formed,  especially  after  the  Civil  War.  the 
full  proceedings  of  many  of  these  bodies  were  printed  in  these 
reports  and  form  a  valuable  supplement.  In  addition,  state  practice 
had,  previous  to  the  rise  of  the  high  school  in  New  York,  established 
the  custom  of  incorporation  or  formal  admission  of  all  higher 
institutions  into  the  University.  This,  together  with  the  fact  that 
such  admission  made  the  school  eligible  to  a  share  in  the  state 
academic  funds,  makes  the  probability  slight  that  a  detailed  survey 


*  Monroe,  Principles  of  Secondary  Education,  II,  p.  51-^:  Inglis,  Princi- 
ples of  Secondary  Education,  V;  Johnston,  High  School  Education,  III. 
P-  52-53,  62-66;   Brown,  The  American   High  School,  I. 


FOREWORD  7 

of  local  records  would  considerabl}-  change  the  conclusions  of 
this  study.  These  records  were  used  in  the  case  of  a  number  of 
schools  and  were  found  to  check  closely  with  the  data  in  the  state 
reports. 

The  purposes  of  this  study  are  principally:  (i)  the  description 
of  the  development  of  schools  in  the  State,  and  (2)  an  analysis 
and  evaluation  of  the  workings  of  the  state  system  into  which  these 
were  organized.  In  the  former  instance  it  is  hoped  that  additional 
light  may  be  thrown  upon  the  progress  of  the  high  school  move- 
ment throughout  the  country  and  upon  the  factors  that  accelerated 
and  retarded  that  movement.  Also  it  is  believed  that  certain  errone- 
ous conceptions  as  to  the  data  and  inferences  in  these  items  may  be 
cleared  up.  In  the  latter  instance,  the  major  interest  has  been  to 
indicate  the  main  lines  of  development  of  what  is  perhaps  the 
most  highly  organised  and  centralized  of  our  state  secondary 
systems  of  education.  Therefore  the  efifort  has  been  made  to 
trace  and  in  some  measure  to  evaluate  the  various  means  to  an 
effective  state  control  and  direction  of  high  school  work,  through 
such  agencies  as  the  admission  and  classification  of  schools,  the 
distribution  of  state  moneys,  examinations  and  syllabuses  in  high 
school  studies,  annual  school  reports  and  state  supervision. '^ 

The  writer  is  greatly  indebted  to  the  New  York  State  Education 
Department  for  the  use  of  materials,  particularly  for  the  use  of 
the  invaluable  manuscript  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Regents.  He 
acknowledges  with  genuine  gratitude  the  constant  courtesy  and 
helpfulness  of  Dr.  Henry  L.  Taylor  of  that  department  in  connec- 
tion with  the  publication.  For  her  untiring  assistance  in  the  more 
detailed  work,  he  owes  a  special  debt  to  his  wife,  and  for  their 
kindly  interest  in  the  problem  and  its  working  out.  a  similar  debt 
to  Dr.  Paul  Monroe  and  Qr.  William  H.  Kilpatrick.  He  also  wishes 
to  express  his  appreciation  for  the  sympathetic  co-operation  —  in 
certain  aspects  of  the  study  where  the  two  problems  overlapped  — 
of  Dr.  George  F.  Miller,  the  author  of  the  Academic  System  of 
the  State  of  New  York. 


'  Inasmuch  as  this  study  was  completed  in  the  spring  of  1918,  the  history  of 
developments  since  1915  is  not  included. 


PART  I 

Introduction 

The  study  naturally  falls  into  two  parts,  the  first  including  the 
beginnings  and  establishment  of  the  system,  the  second,  the  various 
features  of  the  state  administration  of  high  schools.  In  the  three 
successive  chapters,  therefore,  are  treated  the  educational  develop- 
ments in  New  York  State  prior  to  1853,  the  legal  status  of  the 
high  school  and  the  actual  establishment  of  high  schools  and  their 
admission  into  the  University. 

It  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  in  the  approach  to  this  part  of  the 
study  that  there  were  early  developed  two  parallel  and  independent 
state  systems  of  education.  That  for  the  elementary  schools  was 
called  the  Department  of  Common  Schools  or  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion and  that  for  the  secondary  and  higher  schools,  the  Regents  of 
The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  usually  known  as  the 
Regents  or  Board  of  Regents.  This  latter  body  early  acquired  and 
always  maintained  a  peculiar  dignity  and  prestige  due  to  the  caliber 
of  the  men  appointed  by  the  Legislature  for  the  office.  However, 
during  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  showed  a  definite 
tendency  toward  conservatism  that  was  at  times  inimical  to  the 
high  school  through  its  favoritism  of  the  academy,  and  that  made 
the  body  more  or  less  impotent  in  securing  reforms  or  extensions 
of  its  work. 

As  the  law  began  to  put  more  responsibility  upon  the  secretary. 
now  a  paid  officer,  and  tended  to  secure  better  trained  men  for  that 
work,  greater  activity  was  taken  on.  While  in  the  long  run  this 
augured  well  for  the  more  valuable  functioning  of  the  University 
and  the  extension  of  the  privileges  of  secondary  education,  for  the 
quarter  century  from  1870  to  1904  there  was  constant  friction 
between  the  two  state  departments.  In  1904  unification  came, 
marking  as  great  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  state  secondary  educa- 
tion as  the  establishment  of  the  University  in  1784  or  the  passage 
of  the  high  school  (union  school)  act  of  1853. 

[9] 


lO  THI-:    M-:\V    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHDOI.    SYSTEM 

Chapter  i 
Educational  Developments  in  New  York  Prior  to  1853 

The  comparatively  late  rise  of  high  schools  in  New  York  and 
their  subsequent  slow  dcYelopment  make  it  necessary  to  trace  in 
some  detail  the  historical  precedents  of  this  institution  and  the 
steps  that  led  up  to  its  appearance. 

The  first  educational  institutions  of  a  secondary  character  that 
lit  into  the  generally  accepted  classification,  as  high  schools,  are 
undoubtedly  the  Lockport  Union  School  and  the  New  York  Free 
Academy  both  chartered  in  1847  and  fully  established  in  the  years 
1848  and  1849  respectively.  The  practice  of  special  legislation,  which 
had  grown  uj)  much  earlier,  was  thus  carried  over  into  the  develop- 
ment of  the  high  school  system,  each  school  being  founded,  not 
through  state  compulsion,  as  under  the  general  laws  of  Massachu- 
setts, but  through  local  initiative.  Once  founded,  it  became  a  part 
of  the  state  secondary  system  upon  admission  to  The  University  of 
the  State  of  New  York.  In  1853  there  was  passed  the  union  free 
school  act  which  marks  the  beginning  of  general  legislation  for 
high  schools  and  which  has  remained  the  core  of  the  high  school  law 
to  the  present  time. 

In  general  the  purposes  of  the  following  chapter  are :  first,  to 
review  briefly  the  colonial  education  of  New  York,  with  particular 
reference  to  secondary  and  public  Latin  grammar  schools ;  second, 
to  state  the  leading  features  in  the  development  of  the  academy  as 
a  quasi-pubhc  school,  adapting  itself  in  a  variety  of  ways  to  the 
needs  and  demands  of  growing  scientific  and  democratic  interests 
in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century;  and  third,  to  point  out 
those  characteristics  in  the  development  of  common  or  elementary 
schools  that  laid  the  foundation  for  the  later  taking  over  of  the 
secondary  or  high  school  function.  The  first  two  of  these  fields  have 
already  been  made  the  subject  of  careful  investigation  and  advan- 
tage has  been  taken  of  these  results  wherever  they  bear  on  the 
present  problem. 

/  Education  in  Colonial  New  York 
To  the  Dutch  colonists  must  be  given  due  credit  for  rather 
substantial  beginnings  in  public  education,  both  secondary  and 
elementary,  within  the  present  limits  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  While  the  interests  of  these  pioneers  coming  out 
under  the  charter  of  the  West  India  Company  were  pre- 
dominantly  commercial,    it   appears   that  their   villages,   with   the 


I'.DL'fA'iK  iXAi.   i>i:\  i-:i.()i'M  i-:.\  rs   i'kiok  to    1853  11 

po.>;<il)le  exccpiion  of  two,  had  established  elementary  schools  nrior 
to  the  comint;'  of  the  English.^  The  New  Amsterdam  School,  estab- 
lished by  1638.  was  known  as  late  as  1670  as  the  "city  school,"  but 
by  1674  it  had  become  a  church  school  and  has  had  a  continuous 
existence  as  such  to  the  present.^  In  the  matter  of  control  and 
support,  these  colonial  schools  were  maintained  as  tb.ose  of  tlie 
mother  countr}-  with  a  curious  and  intricate  intermingling  of 
ecclesiastical  and  secular  authority,  lart^elx'  determined  by  the  Synod 
of  Dort  in  1618.  All  communities  were  under  oblifjation  to  provide 
schools,  the  church  leaving  to  the  local  secular  officials  the  support 
and  general  administration  but  reserving  to  itself  the  right  of  exam- 
ination of  the  master  and  the  privilege  of  requiring  a  certain  amount 
of  religious  materials  in  the  curriculum.  In  the  New  Netherlands 
there  prevailed  a  highly  centralized  and  autocratic  type  of  govern- 
ment ;  the  \\'est  India  Company  delegated  its  powers  to  the  lords 
directors  and  they  in  turn  to  the  director  general  and  the  council. 
The  outlying  villages  enjoyed  more  local  autonomy,  but  often  found 
the  haughty  Stuyvesant  their  best  asset.  As  to  support,  the  sources 
were  grants  from  the  company,  particularly  for  the  salaries  of  the 
masters,  provision  for  the  schoolhouse  and  its  maintenance  by  local 
excise,  tuitions  of  pupils  and,  of  greatest  significance  perhaps, 
the  town  rates  or  compulsory  subscription  which  in  the  case  of  Ber- 
gen appears  to  have  been  a  school  tax  at  one  time." 

With  the  transition  to  English  control  came  the  consequent 
effort  of  the  conqueror  to  force  his  customs  and  language  upon  the 
conquered,  and  a  resultant  vigorous  opposition  by  the  Dutch  which 
may  have  fostered  the  public  school  tradition  in  some  measure  even 
as  it  tended  to  preserve  the  Dutch  language.  The  schoolmaster 
remained  a  semipublic  official,  performing  customarily  the  duties 
of  church  reader  and  chorister  and  occasionally  those  of  court  secre- 
tary and  court  messenger.  The  town  meeting  tended  to  sitpplant 
the  earlier  autocratic  control  and,  though  the  licenses  must  be 
obtained  from  the  Bishop  of  London  or  the  colonial  governors, 
there  is  evidence  of  a  continued  school  activity  which  of  necessity 
was  modified  in  character  by  the  changing  character  of  the  immi- 
gration.    In  the  case  of  Flatbush  (Midwoud)  the  records  are  very 


^  Kilpatrick,  W.  H.,  The  Dutch  Schools  of  New  Netherland  and  Colonial 
Xew  York ;  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  Bui.,  1912,  No.  12.  His  exhaustive 
treatment  of  all  the  available  records  forms  the  basis  of  this  summarj^  of 
Dutch  colonial   education. 

'  Dunshee,  Historj^  of  the  School  of  the  Collegiate  Reformed  Dutch  Church 
in  the  City  of  New  York. 

'Kilpatrick,  op.  cit.,  p.  205-6.  Kilpatrick  concludes  that  this  is  ihc  only 
instance  on  record  of  a  true  school  tax. 


12  rilli    NEW    YORK    STATE    Uicni    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

complete  and  in  the  fact  that  one  of  the  first  secondary  schools  to  be 
established  after  the  Revolutionary  \\'ar,  the  Erasmus  Hall  Acad- 
emy, ^vas  established  in  this  village,  is  to  be  found  proof  of  the 
following  statement,  that  "  it  seems  .  .  .  unthinkable  that  this 
deep  interest  in  public  education,  which  for  over  a  century  was 
extended  through  so  much  of  the  colony,  should  have  no  part  in 
early  committing  New  York  to  a  strong  policy  of  state  public 
schools."  ^ 

Of  particular  interest  to  our  purposes  are  the  efiforts  to  found 
Latin  schools.  Three  attempts  were  made  in  the  period  from  1652 
and  1664  to  found  such  schools  in  the  village  of  New  Amsterdam, 
with  the  result  that  each  school  survived  the  rigorous  conditions  of 
the  colony  but  two  years.  Following  the  first  establishment  of 
secondary  facilities  under  Jan  de  la  Montague,  who  was  granted 
a  salary  of  200  to  250  guilders  by  the  lords  directors,  the  next  essay 
was  made  in  1658,  when  we  find  the  lords  directors  writing  that 
"  Domine  Drisius  has  repeatedly  expressed  to  us  his  opinion,  that 
he  thought  it  advisable  to  establish  there  a  Latin  school  for  the 
instruction  and  education  of  the  young  people,"  and  consequently 
empowering  Director  Stuyvesant  to  look  into  the  matter  considering 
both  the  interests  of  the  colony  and  the  company.^'  In  the  following 
\ear  a  teacher  was  sent  out,  Curtius  by  name,  whose  career  was  cut 
short  through  his  lack  of  disciplinary  ability,  his  unwillingness  to  meet 
his  financial  obligations,  and  the  difficulty  of  satisfying  his  exorbi- 
tant demands  in  the  way  of  salary.  Of  the  work  of  his  successor, 
Aegidius  Luyck,  who  after  the  coming  of  the  English  remained  as 
a  resident  of  the  colony,  we  know  little  other  than  that  his  school 
drew  pupils  from  some  distance,  two  coming  even  from  Virginia.^ 

With  the  permanent  occupancy  of  the  English  there  was  intro- 
duced into  the  New  York  colony  the  policy  of  laissez  faire  in  edu- 
cational matters.  Private  schools  grew  up  to  meet  the  variety  of 
demands  of  the  young  and  prosperous  colony  although  secondary 
education  seems  never  to  have  flourished."    Kilpatrick  in  an  unpub- 


*  Kilpatrick,  op.  cit.,  p.  230. 

^  New  York  Colonial  Documents,  14:419.  Compare  also  p.  436,  452  and 
462  for  later  references  to  this  school,  its  master,  etc. 

'  Pratt.  D.  J.,  Annals  of  Public  Education  in  New  Netherlands,  Regents 
Rep't,  1869,  p.  863.  In  a  letter  to  the  lords  directors  in  1658  Stuyvesant  had 
remarked  that  the  nearest  Latin  school  was  at  Boston.  With  others  he 
entertained  the  hope  that  the  New  Amsterdam  school  would  grow  into  a 
university,  or  academy,  as  the  term  was  then  used;  see  Pratt,  op.  cit.,  p.  853. 

'  Pratt,  Public  Education  in  the  Colony  of  New  York,  Regents  Rep't,  1870, 
p.  619-92,  gives  much  documentary  evidence  on  the  English  period. 


EDUCATIOXAL    DE\'EL( )  f'M  1-:.\IS     I'UIOK    'l<  »     1 853  IJ 

lished  study  of  the  English  colonial  regime  has  found  approximately 
225  different  masters  serving  in  the  various  parts  of  the  colony.^ 

In  the  field  of  secondary  education,  it  appears  that  the  first  public 
interest  was  shown  in  the  proposal  of  Governor  Dongan  to  King 
James  asking  that  the  proceeds  of  the  king's  farm  be  appropriated 
to  a  Jesuit  school.^  The  first  of  two  definite  attempts  to  foster 
public  Latin  grammar  schools  was  made  in  1702,  when  after  much 
consideration  and  discussion  there  was  passed  "An  act  for  the 
encouragement  of  a  grammar  free  school  in  the  city  of  New  York."^° 
Provision  was  made  for  teaching  the  "  languages  or  other  Learning 
usually  taught  in  Grammar  Schools  "  and  for  a  tax  of  50  pounds 
a  year  in  New  York  money  for  the  support  of  a  teacher.  George 
Muirson  was  licensed  in  1704  by  Governor  Cornbury  to  teach  in 
this  school,  Latin,  Greek  and  English  as  well  as  writing  and  arith- 
metic, and  upon  his  return  to  England  in  1705  the  common  council 
licensed  Andrew  Clarke  specifically  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of 
the  act."  The  fact  that  Clarke  in  1712  is  found  in  other  public 
employment  in  the  city  indicates  apparently  that  the  school  could 
not  have  been  continued  longer  than  a  period  of  seven  years.  In 
1708  we  find  that  Clarke's  salary  is  assured  and  that  he  has  under 
his  care  33  pupils.^^ 

In  1732  there  was  passed  "An  act  to  encourage  a  publick  school 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  for  teaching  Latin,  Greek  and  mathe- 
maticks."^^  The  following  quotation  from  the  act  is  better  than 
any  commentary : 

And  Whereas  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  and  a  great  Number  of  the  prin- 
cipal Inhabitants  of  the  said  City  of  New  York  have  by  their  petition  to 
the  General  Assembly  set  forth  that  One  Mr.  Alexander  Malcolm  has,  by 
keeping  of  a  Private  School  within  the  said  City,  given  a  satisfactory  Proof 
of  his  Abilities  to  teach  Latin,  Greek  and  the  Mathematicks ;  But  as  the 
Income  of  that  School  does  at  present  fall  short  of  a  comfortable  support 
for  himself  and  his  Family  they  humbly  pray  he  may  have  a  suitable 
encouragement  to  keep  a  Publick  School  amongst  us  under  such  Regulations 
and   Restrictions  as  may  answer  that   End. 

And  although  the  not  rightfully  applying  of  a  temporary  salary  heretofore 
allowed  for  a  Free  School,  has  been  the  chief  cause  that  an  Encouragement 
for  the  like  purpose  has  ever  since  been  neglected ;  But  in  as  much  as  the 


*  See  also  R.  A.  Scybolt,  Apprenticeship  and  Apprenticeship  Education  in 
Colonial  New  England  and  New  York. 

"  O'Callaghan.  Colonial  History,  4 :  490. 

'"Laws  of  Colonial  New  York,  chap.  120,  as  transmitted  to  the  Legislature, 
pursuant  to  chap.  125  of  the  Laws  of  1891.  See  also  Pratt,  op.  cit.,  for 
excerpts   from  the  Assembly  Journals. 

"  Pratt,  op.  cit.,  p.  642.  Cf.  Kemp,  The  Support  of  Schools  in  Colonial 
New  York  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts,  p.  70  ft. 

"  Kemp,  loc.  cit. 

"Laws  of   Colonial  New  York,  op.  cit,   II,  p.  813-17. 


14  'nil--   .\i:\\'  YORK  ST  All',   men   school  system 

present  Circumstances  afford  a  better  Prospect,  and  to  the  End  our  Youth 
may  not  be  deprived  of  the  Benefits  before  mentioned.  .  .  . 

By  this  act  provision  was  made  for  the  continuance  of  the  school 
for  a  period  of  five  years,  free  tuition  to  be  had  by  twenty  youths, 
ten  from  New  York  city  and  county,  two  from  Albany  and  one 
each  from  the  eight  other  counties.  These  pupils  were  to  be  certi- 
fied to  the  master  by  the  municipal  authorities.  The  master's  salary 
was  to  be  provided  by  an  annual  tax  of  40  pounds  together  witli 
the  excess  of  hawkers'  and  peddlers'  licenses  over  the  grant  there- 
from to  the  salary  of  the  sheriff.  In  1737  the  grant  was  continued 
for  one  year  but  within  a  week  of  the  passage  of  the  act  of  renewal 
Malcolm  petitioned  the  Assembly  for  the  sum  of  115  lbs.  3s.  6d.  for 
arrears  in  salary.^*  It  was  refused  at  the  time  but  three  years  later 
the  major  part  of  the  sum  was  voted.^^  The  activity  of  the  colony 
in  providing  higher  education  included  further  the  single  act  of 
the  establishment  in  1754  of  the  Kings  College  (later  Columbia), 
in  connection  with  which  there  was  provided  a  grammar  school  in 
1763.  Doctor  Johnson,  the  retired  president  of  the  college,  in  a 
letter  of  the  same  year  suggested  that  the  relatively  slow  develop- 
ment of  secondary  education  was  in  part  due  to  the  lack  of  an}- 
college  in  the  earlier  history  of  the  colony;  boys  went  to  other 
colonies  for  their  complete  edttcation  beyond  the  mere  rudiments." 

This  account  of  English  colcjnial  education  in  New  York  would 
be  incomplete  without  reference  to  the  work  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts. ^'  As  early  as  1702, 
a  catechist  was  established  in  New  York  City  and  by  1710  the  foun- 
dations were  laifl  for  the  school  which  later  was  taken  over  by 
Trinity  Church  and  has  come  down  to  the  present.  To  one  of  the 
teachers.  Mr  Iluddleston,  and  later  to  his  widow,  meager  appro- 
priations were  granted  by  the  city  and,  for  a  time  between  1714 
and  1717,  Huddleston  was  permitted  the  use  of  the  city  hall.''^ 
Kemp  has  found  that  from  17 10  to  1776  the  society  maintained 
v.ithin  the  bounds  of  the  colony  from  five  to  ten  elementary  schools, 
with  an  enrolment  ranging  from  20  to  86  pupils.  He  further  states 
that  as  regards  the  eighteenth  century,  "  the  society's  encouragement 
of  schools  furnished  the  nearest  approach  to  a  public  school  system 


"Laws  of  Colonial  New  York.  op.  cit.,  IT.  p.  073-77- 

"Laws  of  Colonial  New  York,  op.  cit.,  II,  p.  86. 

"New  York,  Col.  Docs..   7:538. 

"Kemp,  op.  cit.;  a  scholarly  account  of  the  society's  activity. 

"Kemp,  op.  cit.,  p.  90  ff.  Tbe  coimcil  furthermore  petitioned  the  Assem- 
bly for  the  power  to  maintain  "  a  ])ul)lick  school-master  for  teaching?  the 
poor  to  read  and  write." 


EDUCATIONAL    UEN-ELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  1 5 

that  was  to  be  found  among  the  Enghsh  colonists  in  New  York.'"^" 
Certain  it  is  that  the  promotion  of  the  education  of  the  poor  in  the 
charity  schools  of  the  New  York  City  churches  received  its  impetus 
from  the  society's  work  and  that  thus  one  of  the  prominent  factors 
in  the  city's  education  was  initiated. 

In  conclusion  it  should  be  said  that  this  meager  showing  of  public 
Latin  schools  is  by  no  means  a  measure  of  secondary  educational 
faciHties  but  rather  an  index  of  an  almost  complete  dearth,  as 
compared  with  the  New  England  colonies,  of  a  tradition  that  would 
prepare  for  the  early  acceptance  of  the  theory  of  the  public  high 
school.  On  the  other  hand  there  was,  through  the  adoption  of  the 
voluntary  policy,  abundant  precedent  for,  and  some  direct  contri- 
bution to,  the  early  development  of  the  academy,  while  for  the  time 
being  the  numerous  private  schools  apparently  met  rather  fully  the 
needs  of  the  commercial  and  mercantile  as  well  as  of  the  profes- 
sional classes.^** 

2  Development  of  the  Academy  System 

a  Establishment  of  The  University  of  the  State  of  Nezv 
York.  When  the  attention  of  the  young  State's  leaders  could 
be  directed  to  the  building  up  of  a  new  social  system,  they 
turned  to  education.-^  and  naturally  the  first  significant  step 
was  in  the  field  of  higher  education.  Determining  factors 
were  the  precedent  of  previous  legislation  during  the  Eng- 
lish regime,  the  relatively  aristocratic  type  of  leadership,  together 
with  the  fact  that  the  only  extant  institution  with  any  following  was 
King's  College,  now  Columbia.  On  May  i,  1784,  there  was  passed 
"An  act  for  granting  certain  Privileges  to  the  College  heretofore 
called  King's  College,  for  altering  the  Name  and  Charter  thereof, 
and  erecting  an  University  within  the  State."  -^  More  significant 
than  the  recognition  of  the  college  was  the  creation  of  the  Univer- 
sity, whose  fimctions  included  not  only  the  government  of  the  col- 
lege but  the  founding  and  government  of  other  schools  and  colleges, 
as  a  part  of  the  University.  By  a  later  act  of  the  same  year,-^  the 
the  ecclesiastical  and  ex-officio  representation,  as  well  as  that  of 
"Board  of  Regents,"  its  governing  body,  was  increased  from  32  to 
65,  with  the  consequent  reduction  of  the  proportionate  influence  of 


'"  Op.  cit.,  p.  277. 

^"Miller,  G.  F.,  The  History  of  the  Academy  System  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  chap.  i. 

"  Assembly  and  Senate  Journals  for  1784.  especially  Senate  Journal,  p.  6. 

"Laws  of  New  York,  1784,  7th  session,  chap.  51. 

'"Laws  of  New  York,  1784,  8th  session,  chap.  15.  Also  in  Pratt's  Annals 
of  Public  Education  in  the  State  of  New  York,  Regents  Rep't,  1876,  p. 
695-96. 


l6  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

the  counties  other  than  Xew  York.  This  act  appears  to  have  been 
a  compromise  between  the  aristocratic  and  conservative  interests 
centering  in  Columbia  College  and  the  more  democratic  interests 
of  the  other  counties.  The  college  remained  the  chief  object  of  con- 
cern of  the  Board.-*  A  committee  appointed  in  February  of  1786 
to  consider  "  vt^ays  and  means  of  promoting  literature  throughout 
the  State  "  seems  not  to  have  reported.  However  a  second  com- 
mittee appointed  in  the  following  January  to  consider  generally 
the  status  of  the  University  and  measures  needed  to  render  it  more 
effective  reported  soon  thereafter,  in  particular  recommending  sepa- 
rate corporate  powers  for  the  colleges  within  the  University  and 
encouragement  of  "  academies  for  the  instruction  of  youth."^^  In 
the  meantime  at  least  three  academies  had  sought  some  sort  of 
recognition;  petitions  had  been  received  by  the  Legislature  from  citi- 
zens of  Goshen  for  the  privilege  of  raising  by  lottery  200  pounds  to 
complete  an  academy  building,-^  an  act  had  been  passed  legalizing 
the  sale  of  land  for  the  erection  of  an  academy  by  the  Dutch  Church 
at  Flatbush,-'  and  a  petition  had  been  received  from  citizens,  includ- 
ing a  prominent  Regent,  Mr  L'Hommedieu,  of  East  Hampton,  for 
certain  privileges  for  an  academy  at  that  place.^^ 

After  many  tentative  drafts  and  much  consideration  in  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature  as  well  as  by  the  Regents,  there  was 
passed  in  April  1787,  an  act  which  became  the  University  law  and 
underwent  little  modification  for  over  a  century.^^  By  this  act  the 
University  became  a  purely  secular  organization,  consisting  of  21 
members,  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant  Governor,  serving  ex-officio, 
and  the  others  to  be  appointed  by  the  Legislature.  Columbia  Col- 
lege was  set  off  with  a  separate  board  of  trustees,  as  were  also  all 
other  schools  which  became  members  of  the  University.  The 
enlarged  powers  of  the  University  included  the  chartering  of  col- 
leges and  academies,  the  visiting  and  inspecting  of  these  institutions 
and  finally  the  granting  of  aid.  The  provisions  by  which  the  acad- 
emies were  recognized  as  preparatory  schools  for  the  colleges  indi- 
cated that  the  act  contemplated  the  founding  of  these  two  types  of 


**  Sherwood,  The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Education,  Circular  of  Information  No.  3,  1900.  Pages  44  to  99  give  a  very 
complete  account  from  documentary  evidence  of  the  founding  of  the  Univer- 
sity and  of  the  struggle  mentioned  above.  Cf.  Miller,  op.  cit.,  and  also 
Pratt,  op.  cit. 

*  Pratt,  op.  cit.,  p.  717,  724-2S. 

**  Assembly  Jour.,  1785,  p.  7. 

"  Laws  of  New  York,  1786,  chap.  54. 

"  Pratt,  op.  cit.,  p.  725. 

"Laws  of  New  York,  1787,  chap.  82.     See  also  Pratt,  op.  cit.,  p.  726-48. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO     1 853 


17 


institutions.  Supplementary  provisions  empowered  the  Regents  to 
revise  the  course  of  study  of  schools  whose  trustees  desired  intimate 
connection  with  the  colleges  in  the  way  of  permission  of  their  stu- 
dents to  take  the  examinations  and  further  provided  for  the  erection 
of  academies  into  colleges.  At  the  second  meeting  of  the  newly  con- 
stituted board  the  academies  of  Erasmus  Hall  at  Flatbush  and  Clin- 
ton at  East  Hampton  were  chartered.^"  The  first  annual  report 
shows  that  Erasmus  Hall  had  26  students  in  two  departments,  the 
classical  and  English,  and  Clinton  56  in  three  departments,  classical, 
English  and  common  school .^^  It  will  be  necessary  to  treat  briefly 
the  leading  features  of  the  establishment  of  the  academy  system 
which  for  nearly  a  centuiy  largely  preempted  the  secondary  field. ^'- 
b  Growth  of  the  academy:  finance,  curriculum.  The  numerical 
growth  of  the  academy  movement  is  shown  in  table  i.^"^     Of  this 

Table  i 
Secondary  schools  incorporated  by  1853 


YEARS 

INCORPO- 
RATED BY 
REGENTS 

INCORPO- 
RATED BY 
LEGISLATURE 

YEARS 

INCORPO- 
RATED BY 
REGENTS 

INCORPO- 
RATED BY 
LEGISLATURE 

1787-1790 

I79I-I795 

I796-I800 

18OI-1805 

1806— I8IO     

4 
II 
4 
4 
4 
10 
6 

182I-I82S 

I826-183O 

I83I-1835 

1836-I84O 

I84I-184S 

I846-I85O 

185I-1853 

2 
5 
2 
12 
32 
21 
20 

II 

30 
36 
64 
13 

I8II-181S 

I816-I82O 

S 

91 

'  Six  of  the  schools  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  from  1847  to  1853  and  included  in  the  above 
are  properly  high  schools. 

total  of  315  institutions,  of  which  178  or  57  per  cent  were  incor- 
porated by  the  Legislature,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  greatest  growth 
was  in  the  years  1826-40,  when  legislative  activity  was  at  its 
height.^*  Two  reasons  may  be  given  for  this  partial  assumption  of 
the  function  of  granting  charters  by  the  Legislature : 

I  The  powers  of  the  Regents  had  been  called  in  question  as 
regards  the  rights  under  the  constitution  of  1821  to  grant  charters. ^'^ 
and,  although  the  answer  of  that  body  in  reply  to  a  resolution  of 
the  Senate  in  1825  justified  its  retention  of  the  power,  the  practice 


*•  Regents  Minutes  in  Pratt's  Annals  of  Public  Education  in  New  York, 
Regents  Rep't,  1883,  p.  439-42.  See  also  Chronicles  of  Erasmus  Hall 
Academy,   for  facsimile  of  charter  and  proceedings   relative  thereto. 

"  Quoted  in   full   in  Pratt's   Annals,  op.  cit.,  p.  444-45. 

^  See  George  F.  Miller,  op.  cit.,  for  a  comprehensive  treatment. 

'^  Compiled  from  Regents  Instructions,  1853,  p.  139-50. 

■"^  Inglis  finds  a  similarly  rapid  growth  in  Massachusetts;  op.  cit.,  p.  11. 

"Regents  ^Minutes  (MSS),  v.  3,  p.  lo-ii.  See  also  Assembly  Documents, 
1853,  no.  22. 


i8 


THE    NEW    YORK    STATK    llK.ll    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


of  turning  to  the  Legislature  had  begun  and  was  continued  very 
largely  to  1840  (see  table  i). 

2  The  period  was  one  of  marked  experimentation  with  the  con- 
sequent results  that  a  large  number  of  the  schools  of  this  period 
were  variants  from  the  typical  academy,  wliich  the  Regents  regarded 
it  as  their  duty  to  foster,  and  that  many  desired  special  privileges 
not  granted  either  in  the  University  law  or  in  the  requirements  of 
the  Regents  of  181 5  which  stipulated  the  minimum  essentials  of 
building  and  funds  of  institutions  seeking  incorporation^^  (see 
table  3).  In  table  2  this  development  is  seen  to  even  better  advan- 
tage, as  regards  the  last  quarter  century  of  the  period  under  dis- 
cussion.^'    It  will  be  noted  that  but  few  more  than  one-half  of  the 

Table  2 
Growth  in  numbers  of  academies  reporting,  pupils,  plants  etc. 


YEAR 

No., 
academies 
reporting 

No. 

pupils  at 

time  of 

report 

No. 

allowed  as 

academic 

pupils 

No. 
teachers 

Annual 
apportion- 
ment 

Total 

value 

plant  and 

equipment 

1826 

1830 

183s 

1840 

184s 

1850 

34 
57 
66 
127 
153 
166 

2  446 

4  303 

5  548 

11  477 

12  608 
IS   477 

636 
2  220 
4  017 
10  186 
13  481 
17  912 

$6  000 
10  000 
12  000 
40  000 
40  000 
40  000 

160 
228 
571 
610 
739 

J337  809 

420  840 

I  003  504 

I    147   102 
I  418  041 

incorporated  institutions  were  reporting.  The  Regents  in  iSsy^ 
considered  that  203  schools  were  subject  to  their  visitation,  while 
37  were  extinct  or  merged  into  colleges,  and  73  of  the  Legislature- 
incorporated  institutions  had  not  availed  themselves  of  general  acts 
which  provided  that  b}-  meeting  the  requirements  of  the  Regents 
and  of  the  statutes,  they  might  be  admitted  to  the  L^niversity  and 
allowed  lo  share  in  the  annual  distribution  of  .state  funds. ''^ 

At  the  outset  the  great  problem  of  the  academy  was  seen  to  be 
that  of  sufficient  income.  An  act  of  1786  had  provided  for  the  set- 
ting ofif  of  two  lots  in  each  town  of  the  State's  unappropriated  lands, 
one  of  which  was  for  '"  gospel  and  schools  "  and  the  other  "  for 


"Assembly  Documents,  1839,  v.  3,  no.  141;  a  special  report  of  the  Regents 
quoting  from  this  early  regulation  with  later  modifications. 

*'  Compiled  from  Hough.  F  B,,  Historical  and  Statistical  Record  of  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  1885,  especially  chaps.  20-23  inclusive. 
See  also  Annual  Reports  of  Regents. 

"*  Regents  Instructions,  op.  cit..  p.   13^^50. 

"Rev.  Statutes  of  1829,  pt  i,  chap.  15,  title  i,  sec.  54  (repealed  by  chap. 
140.  T.aws  of  1834).     Also  Laws  of  1838,  chap.  237. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVEI.OI'M  ENTS    PRIOR    TO     1853  I9 

promoting  literature."'*"  In  1790  there  was  passed  an  act  placing 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Regents  several  large  tracts  of  land,  and  in 
the  interim  until  this  should  become  productive  of  revenue,  the  sum 
of  1000  pounds  annually  was  appropriated  for  the  needs  of  the 
academies  and  the  college.*^ 

In  1813  there  was  passed  "An  act  directing  the  sale  of  certain 
lands  for  the  benefit  of  academies,"*-  which  together  with  later  acts 
established  the  literature  fund,  permanently  devoted  to  the  use  of 
the  academies  by  the  constitution  of  1846.  The  annual  income  had 
increased  to  $12,000  by  1834  and  in  1838  there  was  passed  an  act 
adding  to  this  sum  annuall\-  the  sum  of  $28,000.  making  a  total  of 
$40,000  annually  to  be  apportioned  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of 
pupils  pursuing  other  than  common  school  branches.  Reference  to 
table  2  will  show  the  effects  of  the  increased  appropriations.  A 
marked  injustice  was  brought  about  by  the  Revised  Statutes  of  1829, 
by  which  the  sum  annually  distributed  was  to  be  divided  equally 
among  the  eight  senatorial  districts,  a  practice  which  was  continued 
until  i847.*'  ^"d  which  operated  to  make  certain  institutions  pros- 
perous at  the  expense  of  others. 

Reference  having  been  made  to  the  development  of  state  funds 
for  the  aid  of  academies  and  the  changed  status  of  the  secondary 
school,  it  becomes  important  to  note  the  progress  made  in  the  exten- 
sion of  the  curriculum.  At  the  first  the  distribution  of  funds,  left 
entirely  to  the  Regents,  had  been  made  on  the  basis  of  special  need,** 
but  this  practice  was  soon  changed  to  one  of  distribution  on  the 
basis  of  number  of  pupils  reported.  With  the  consequent  rise  of 
the  common  schools,  it  became  apparent  that  the  work  of  the  two 
systems  was  overlappmg  while  the  number  of  pupils  in  the  higher 
or  classical  branches  was  actually  on  the  decline.  In  1818  there- 
fore the  Regents  adopted  a  rule  that  provided  aid  for  those  academy 
pupils  only  that  were  pursuing  "  a  course  in  classical  instruction, 
usually  pursued  as  preparatory  to  admission  to  colleges."*^     Natur- 


*"  Laws  of  New  York,  1786,  chap.  67.     Also  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  70  ff. 

**Laws  of  New  York.  1790,  chap.  38.     Amended  1802,  chap.  105. 

"Laws  of  New  York,  1813,  chap.  187;  see  also  1813,  chap.  199;  1814, 
chap.  83;  1819,  chap.  222;  1824,  chap.  313;  1827,  chap.  228;  1829,  chap.  325; 
1830,  chap.  184;   1831,  chap.  281. 

*^  See  constitution  of  1846,  art.  9.  Documents  referring  to  the  results  of 
the  district  method  of  appropriation  include  the  following:  Assembly  Docu- 
ments, 1841,  no.  256;  1839.  nos.  76  and  141;  also  annual  Rep'ts  of  Regents, 
1830  flf. 

**  Regents  Rep't  1793 ;  quoted  in  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  445. 

"  Special  Rep't  of  Regents  to  the  Legislature,  in  Assembly  Jour.,  p.  863-66. 
For  statu.s  of  classics  in  the  curriculum,  see  annual  rep'ts  of  1819,  1820,  1822 
and  182;. 


20  THE    XKW     ^OKK    STAT1-:    IIKIII     SlIIOOI.    SVSTi:>[ 

ally  objection  was  early  found  to  this  by  schools  which  were  imme- 
diately reduced  in  amount  of  aid  but  no  change  was  made  until 
1827  when  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  defining  the  right  to  partic- 
ipation as  limited  to  those  students  who  "  for  six  months  during 
the  preceding  year  .  .  .  shall  have  pursued  classical  studies, 
or  the  higher  branches  of  English  education,  or  both ;  and  that  no 
pupil  shall  be  deemed  to  have  pursued  classical  studies,  unless  he 
shall  have  advanced  as  far  at  least  as  to  have  read  the  first  book 
of  the  Aeneid  of  Virgil  in  Latin;  and  no  student  shall  be  deemed  to 
have  pursued  the  higher  branches  of  an  English  education,  unless 
he  shall  have  advanced  beyond  such  knowledge  of  common,  vulgar 
and  decimal  arithmetic,  and  such  proficiency  in  English  grammar 
and  geography,  as  are  usually  obtained  in  common  schools."  *° 

As  this  act  provided  further  that  institutions  incorporated  by  the 
Legislature  might  subject  themselves  to  the  rules  of  the  Regents 
and  thereby  receive  aid,  a  marked  impetus  was  given  to  the  intro- 
duction of  '"  English  "  subjects  which  included  a  very  wide  range, 
indeed  as  usually  interpreted  all  subjects  not  distinctly  included  in 
the  classics  and  above  the  elementary.  An  intensive  study  of  the 
curriculums  of  the  reporting  academies  shows  that  of  the  149  sub- 
jects appearing  in  the  years  1787— 1870,  100  appear  for  the  first  time 
in  the  years  1826-40  as  against  23  in  the  years  preceding  and  26 
in  the  years  following,  while  of  28  occasionally  appearing  and  irreg- 
ular subjects,  17  enter  the  curriculums  at  this  time.*"  From  1825 
to  1828  one-third  of  the  new  subjects  appear.  Of  the  subjects  that 
came  in  in  this  period  of  15  Acars,  those  that  attained  a  prevalency 
of  75  to  TOO  per  cent  include  algebra,  astronomy,  botany,  chemistry, 
geometry,  general  history,  history  of  the  United  States,  surveying 
and  mental  (intellectual)  philosophy,  while  the  subjects  that  came 
to  be  taught  in  some  twenty  or  more  schools  were  elements  of  criti- 
cism, drawing,  geology,  law  (and  civics),  mensuration,  music  (in 
18  schools),  natural  history,  physiology  and  trigonometry.  In  this 
connection  it  should  be  noted  that  in  1840  there  were  but  107S 
students  reported  in  the  colleges  in  the  State  and,  in  1853,  889  liter- 
ary students  and  847  medical  students;  the  number  of  academy 
pupils  in  this  period  practically  doubled.  In  1821  the  Regents  in 
their  annual  report  had  considered  the  academy  as  the  gateway  to 


"Laws  of  1827,  chap.  228. 

"  Compiled  from  Miller,  G.  F.,  op.  cit.,  chap.  5.  It  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  many  of  these  subjects  were  merely  topics,  for  example,  logarithnv*. 
electricity  and  optics. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOP^MKXTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  ^^ 

the  learned  professions  for  those  who  lacked  the  means  of  a  col- 
legiate education  while  they  ver}-  rightly  were  considered  as  offer- 
ing work  that  was  the  fair  equivalent  of  college  instruction.'*^ 

c  Special  types  of  academics:  "female"  academies,  monit'orial 
high  schools.  The  consequences  of  the  experimental  era  above  noted 
were  less  favorable  and  permanent  than  might  have  been  anticipated, 
and  yet  it  should  be  said  that  the  underlying  purposes  of  many  of 
the  institutions  were  little  different  than  those  of  the  early  New 
England  high  schools,  particularly  the  extension  of  higher  educa- 
tion to  the  mercantile  and  agricultural  classes.*'^  One  significant 
phase  of  academy  development  was  the  provision  for  the  education 
of  girls.  Beginning  in  1819,  in  which  year  was  incorporated  the 
Waterford  Female  Academy,^"  there  were  incorporated  previous  to 
the  year  1853,  32  institutions  in  whose  titles  appeared  the  word 
"  Female  "  while  many  other  schools  catered  largely  to  the  same 
sex.  In  the  Regents  Reports,  it  is  seen  that  in  the  later  years  of 
those  under  consideration,  the  number  of  girls  in  strictly  secondary 
studies  exceeded  that  of  boys.  Table  3  gives  some  conception  both 
of  the  variety  of  institutional  interests,  and  the  divergent  activity 
of  the  Legislature  and  the  Regents  in  granting  charters  in  the  years 
1826-40.5^ 

Table  3 

Titles  of  secondary  institutions  incorporated,  1826-40 


CORPORATE  TITLES  OF  SCHOOLS 

Academy 

Academy  (female,  scientific  etc.) 

Seminary 

Seminary  (female,  scientific,  agricultural  etc.) 

Institute 

Institute  (scientific,  practical,  liberal,  collegiate,  of  science  and  industry) . 
Miscellaneous  (grammar,  collegiate,  college,  lyceum,  classical  schools,  etc.) 
High  schools 

Total , 


INCORPORATED  BY 

Regents 

Legislature 

10 

72 
8 

I 

4 
IS 
3 

I 

8 

1                   2 

12 

ii 

12 

IS 

134 

'  Lewiston  High  School  Academy,  under  the  act  of  1821,  chap.  61.     Regents  Minutes  (MSS), 
V.  3,p.  215. 

Undoubtedly   a   detailed   study   of   individual   institutions   would 
show  that  the  manual  labor  movement  played  an  important  role  in 


^Regents  Minutes,  1835  (MSS),  v.  4,  p.  62-63. 

"  Inglis,  op.  cit.,  p.  15-18.  Cf .  the  report  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the 
High  School  Society  of  New  York,  1824. 

"Laws  of  1819,  chap.  52.  See  also  Assembly  Jour.,  1820,  p.  15;  also  a 
Memorial  of  Emma  Willard  and  others  relative  to  female  education.  Assem- 
bly Documents,  1852,  no.  74. 

"  Compiled  from  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  575-732. 


22  TIII-:   xi:\\    ^•()KK   statk  iti(;h   stiiooi.  snsti:>[ 

this  period  although  but  two  schools  bear  the  name.^^  Hough  quite 
inaccurately  finds  but  five  such  institutions."  In  spite,  however,  of 
the  great  variety  of  corporate  titles,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  number 
of  institutions  bearing  the  title  of  "  academy  "  and  incorporated  in 
the  years  1826-40,  is  approximately  two  out  of  three,  which  together 
with  the  fact  that  many  incorporated  under  other  titles  later  changed 
to  that  of  "  acadeni} ."'  is  indicative  of  the  lendencv  to  remain 
true-to-type. 

Special  mention  must  be  made  of  the  so-called  "  high  schools  " 
of  this  period.  All  probably  at  some  time  in  their  history  used  the 
monitorial  method,  as  indeed  did  many  academies.'*  The  first  of 
these  schools  to  be  incorporated  was  the  New  York  High  School 
Society,"^  based  directly  on  the  experience  of  Dr  John  Griscom  who 
during  a  visit  to  Europe  had  been  impressed  with  the  use  of  the 
monitorial  system  in  the  Edinburgh  High  School,  and  had  widely 
disseminated  the  knowledge  he  gained  concerning  that  institution.'^® 
At  a  meeting  held  earl\-  in  the  year  1824  John  Griscom  and  Daniel 
Barnes  were  chosen  associate  principals,  a  "  Plan  and  Articles  of 
Subscription  "  was  drawn  up  and  134  shares  of  $100  each  were 
taken  up  by  96  subscribers.  The  preamble  of  the  plan  stated  that 
the  purpose  of  the  founders  was  to  establish  a  school  preparing 
either  for  college  or  for  business  pursuits.  In  a  "  Report  of  a  com- 
mittee appointed  by  tbe  High  School  Society  of  New  York,  to  pre- 
pare a  plan  of  instruction  to  be  pursued  in  the  high  school,"  given  at 
a  meeting  of  December  15,  1824,  note  was  made  that  New  York's 
great  commercial  precedence  over  her  competitors  was  without  a  cor- 
responding intellectual  and  moral  status.  The  ideals  of  the  founders 
were  stated  in  the  following  w^ords : 

We  wish  to  see  established  in  our  city  a  system  of  education  congenial 
with  our  republican  institutions,  and  commensurable  with  our  means  and 
wants.  We  should  be  glad  to  see  an  institution  supported  by  law  at  the 
public   expense,    for    instruction   in    classical    learning,    and   in    some    of    the 


"Laws  of  1832,  chap.  123  (Genesee  Manual  Labor  Seminar}';  not  organ- 
ized) ;  1833,  chap.  301  (Aurora  Manual  Labor  Seminary;  became  Aurora 
Academ\-  by  chap.  228,  Laws  of  1838). 

"  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  441. 

"  Miller,  op.  cit. 

"  See  table  4- 

"Griscom,  John,  A  Year  in  Europe,  1818-19;  second  edition  published  in 
1824.  See  pa.ircs  222-23.  The  term  "  hie  scule "  was  used  of  this  public 
Latin  grammar  school  at  least  as  early  as  1531 ;  see  excerpts  from  minutes 
of  the  town  council  in  Steven,  The  History  of  the  Edinburgh  High  School, 
app.,  p.  1.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  New  York  Teachers  Society  had  dis- 
cussed the  need  of  a  high  school  as  intermediate  between  the  elementary 
schools  and  the  college;  see  the  Academician,  1:186-88  (September  1818)  ; 
also  p.  207. 


KDL'CATTOXAT,    DEVEL(M^MEXTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  -3 

higher  branches  of  useful  science,  which  should  be  open  to  all  classes  of 
society.  .  .  .  Such  an  institution  now  exists  in  one  of  our  sister  cities 
to  her  distinguished  honor,  and  we  believe  nowhere  else.  ...  It  is  not 
expected  that  individual  efforts  will  establish  a  seminary  of  learning  upon 
such  a  basis  as  this,  but  we  confidently  anticipate  that  the  High  School  will, 
in  a  great  measure,  be  a  substitute  for  it;  and  that  it  will  go  far  towards 
supplying  the  defects  of  our  present  means  of  education. 

A  Alale  High  School  was  opened  in  March  1825  and  a  Female 
High  School  in  the  following  year  with  the  result  that  in  1828,  730 
pupils  were  in  attendance.'^'  In  addition  to  the  usual  academic  sub- 
jects, much  was  made  of  lectures  in  chemistry  and  natural  phil- 
osophy in  which  field  Doctor  Griscom  attained  some  renown.  In 
the  Male  High  School  were  offered  Spanish  and  athletic  exercises, 
and  shop  work  was  planned  for.  In  the  Female  High  School,  much 
attention  was  given  to  the  specialties  of  its  principal,  namely,  draw- 
ing, painting  and  plain  needlework.  The  school  encountered  at  first 
the  opposition  of  the  New  York  Teachers  Society,  the  various  pri- 
vate schools  and  even  Columbia  College,  apparently  through  fear 
of  competition  and  the  drawing  off  of  students,^*  but  its  discontinu- 
ance in  183 1  seems  to  have  been  due  rather  to  lack  of  administrative 
ability  on  the  part  of  its  principals,  the  problem  of  adjusting  the 
monitorial  method  to  higher  subjects  being  found  difficult.^^  Its 
brief  period  of  large  success  had  caused  a  number  of  similar  ven- 
tures to  be  attempted,  as  seen  in  table  4. 


'^  First,  Second  and  Fourth  Annual  Reports  of  the  High  School  Society. 

"*  Griscom,  J.  H.,  ^lemoirs  of  John  Griscom,  p.  203  and  208;  see  also  p.  326, 
in  which  Griscom  refers  to  the  high  school  and  Columbia  College  as  public 
buildings. 

°*  Griscom,  J.  H.,  op.  cit.,  p.  209-14. 


24 


THE    NEW    YORK    STATK    TlICll    SCHOOf,    SYSTEM 


Table  4 
Monitorial  high  schools  incorporated  by  special  acts,    1825-36 


DATE  OF 
ACT  OF 
INCORPORA- 
TION 


CONTROL  AND 
SUPPORT 


REGENTS 
AIDED 


FURTHER  DATA 


New   York  High  School 
Society 


Li\'ing[ston  County  High 
School 


Rochester  High  School . . 


Buffalo  High  School  As- 
sociation 


Gouverneur  High  School. 


Warren     County     High 

School 
Palmyra  High  School. 


Xewburgh  High  School. . 


Ontario  High  School . 
Clyde  High  School .  . 


Preble  High  School 1834,  ch.  176 


182s,  ch.  74.. 

1827,  ch.64.. 
1827, ch. 70. . 

1827,  ch. 330 

1828,  ch. 162. 

1828,  ch.  226. 

1829,  ch.  8r.. 

1829,  ch.  234. 


1830,  ch.  113. 
1834,  ch.  I7S- 


Stock  Co. 


Stock  Co. 


La  Fayette  High  School . 
Sandy  Hill  (high  school 
or  academy) 


1836,  ch.  176. 
1836, ch. 523. 


Trustees  of  dists.  4 
and  14.  Tax;  vide, 
also  1831,  ch.  SI 

Stock  Co 


Stock  Co. 


Stock  Co. 
Stock  Co . 


Dist.  13  made  per- 
manent; support 
by  tax 


Stock  Co ..... . 

Trustees     dists. 
and  17;  tax 


Trustees  dist.  6, 
made  corporate 
body 

Stock  Co 

Village  trustees  au- 
thorized to  raise 
tax 


1833-34. 
1836-75 


1829-30, 
1832-51 


1829-33. 
1840-45 


1831  ff. 


1833-37 


Dissolved  1833,  ch.  9.  A 
high  school  at  same 
location  sought  Re- 
gents charter,  1844, 
Regents  Minutes 

(MSS),  v.4,p.  443,474 

1846,  ch.  309,  name  be- 
came Geneseo  Acad- 
emy; 1866,  normal 
school 

Division  of  dist.  author- 
ized 1836,  ch.  165. 
Rochester  Collegiate 
Inst.  1839 

Dissolved  1851,  ch.  142. 
Name  changed  to  Lit- 
erary and  Scientific 
Academy,  1830,  ch.  32; 
dissolved  1846,  ch.  88 

Aided  by  tax  1839,  ch. 
64,  1869,  ch.  291,  etc. 
Name  Gouverneur 

Wesleyan       Seminary, 
1840, ch. 169 

Not  organized 

Transfer  of  property  of 
dist.  I,  legalized  1830, 
ch.  lis;  extinct  1850 

District  divided  1848,  ch. 
192;  merged  common 
school  system  1852,  ch. 
IS6 

Not  organized 

Dist.  14  dropped  out, 
1842,  ch.  268;  1858, 
ch.  192  made  free 
school;  1876,  ch.  332, 
acad.  dep't,  subject  to 
Regents 

Not  organized 


Not  organized 
Not  organized 


Table  4  indicates  the  fact  that  from  1825  to  1836  more  than  a 
dozen  such  institutions  were  conceived.  To  these  should  be  added 
the  Lewiston  High  School  Academy/"  the  Troy  High  School  estab- 
lished in  district  i,  and  made  the  recipient  of  lottery  venders' 
licenses  with  the  stipulation  that  the  trustees  establish  a  high  school 
on  the  monitorial  plan  and  prepare  teachers  therein  as  well  as 
instruct  in  the  higher  branches,^^  the  Utica  High  School  for  Boys, 
established  as  a  boarding  school  for  boys  in  1827,  and  known  from 


"  See  footnote  to  table  3. 
"  Laws  of  1828,  chap.  loi. 


EDUCATIOXAl.    DEVEI-OPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  -5 

1833  on  '^-'^  th^  Utica  Gymnasium,®-  and  the  Ellenville  High  School, 
incorporated  by  the  Regents  as  a  stock  company  in  1856.®^  The 
extent  of  the  movement  is  further  seen  by  the  following  facts :  the 
Clinton  High  School  Association  was  formed  in  1831,®*  petitions 
sent  to  the  Regents  in  1830  and  to  the  Legislature  in  183 1  request- 
ing the  chartering  of  the  Genesee  High  School  at  Alexander  were 
refused  because  of  lack  of  compliance  with  the  regulations,"^  and  in 
1839  the  Turin  Academy  applied  for  a  charter  under  the  name  of 
the  Turin  High  School,  only  to  have  the  name  changed  in  the  com- 
mittee on  colleges.*"^ 

Reference  to  table  4  makes  evident  the  fact  that  at  the  outset 
these  high  schools  were  divided  into  two  groups,  corporate  stock 
companies  and  district  schools  which  sought  certain  privileges.  Of 
the  former,  but  two  had  any  degree  of  permanence,  Gouverneur  High 
School  which  like  many  other  academies  at  different  times,  received 
aid  from  town  tax,  and  Livingston  County  High  School  which 
was  modeled  closely  after  the  New  York  High  School.^^  In  1837 
the  trustees  of  the  latter  offered  free  tuition  to  four  pupils  in  each 
town  of  the  county.*'^  Among  the  avowed  purposes  of  this  school 
were  the  cheapening  of  instruction  for  the  advantage  of  the  poorer 
classes,  the  training  of  teachers  in  the  monitorial  method,  and  the 
provision  of  a  suitable  education  for  the  wants  of  farmers,  mechanics 
and  merchants.  Favorable  comment  was  made  upon  the  institution 
by  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  Flagg  in  his  annual  report 
for  1827,  and  by  Governor  Clinton  in  his  annual  message  to  the 
Legislature.  Each  advocated  the  extension  of  the  monitorial  high 
school  throughout  the  State,  to  be  located  at  the  county  towns,  and 
to  provide  for  the  training  of  teachers  in  addition  to  giving  a 
practical-scientific  education.  The  Governor  urged  the  Legislature 
to  provide  that  the  State  bear  one-half  of  the  expense  of  erection  of 
the  buildings  for  these  schools  at  a  cost  not  to  exceed  $4000  each. 
No  action  was  taken  and  thus  the  first  impulse  toward  the  high 
school  movement  failed,  as  it  must  have  done  had  it  been  initiated 


'^  Utica  Directories  for  182S  and  1833.     C.  Bartlett,  principal. 

•^  Provisional  incorporation  by  Regents  in  1856;  Laws  of  1867,  chap.  537, 
declares  Principal  Post  a  corporation  and  makes  name  "  Ulster  Female 
Seminary."     See  also  Ellenville  Journal,  Sept.  12,  1863. 

"Annals  of  Education,  3:487-88. 

"Assembly  Document,  1831,  no.  319;  Regents  Minutes  (MSS),  v.  3,  p.  270, 
305. 

"Assembly  Tour.  1839,  P-  1104. 

*^  For  prospectus  and  ideals  of  founders,  see  American  Journal  of  Educa- 
tion. 1:203-5,  441;  2:700-1;  3:633-34. 

"Common  School  Assistant,  2:88. 


26  IIII".    M-.W    YORK    STATK    UICM    SCHOOi.    SYSTEM 

with  the  monitorial  ideal.^^  The  county  conception  undoubtedly 
influenced  the  incorporation  of  the  Warren  and  Ontario  High 
Schools. 

Of  the  districts  granted  special  privileges  as  high  schools. 
Rochester  and  Clyde  offer  the  first  examples  of  union  or  consoli- 
dated schools,  respectively  in  1827  and  1834,  although  both  unions 
were  dissolved  very  soon.  By  the  act  of  incorporation  Clyde  was 
denied  aid  from  the  literature  fund,  which  indeed  was  not  granted 
until  1876.'°  The  Rochester  High  School  act  referred  to  chapter 
61  of  the  Laws  of  1821,  specially  providing  that  any  district  might 
place  itself  under  the  Regents  for  the  privilege  of  incorporating 
with  the  rights  of  es^ablishment  of  instruction  in  the  systems  of 
Lancaster  and  Bell,  and  it  soon  came  under  the  Regents.  As  late 
as  1837  it  was  known  as  a  common  school  and  reported  to  have  12 
teachers  with  634  pupils  out  of  2782  in  the  city's  public  schools/^ 
but  by  1839  it  was  regarded  as  a  stock  company.'^  The  act  of  incor- 
poration of  the  city  extended  the  privileges  of  establishment  of 
high  schools  by  any  district  of  the  city  or  by  any  union  of  districts. 
and  further  required  the  Rochester  High  School  to  make  annual 
reports  to  the  common  council  "  as  trustees  of  a  school  district."'-^ 
Evidence  seems  to  be  sufficient  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  these 
schools,  like  the  New  York  High  School,  took  pupils  at  the  earliest 
age  and  carried  them  through  the  branches  that  were  generally 
considered  preparatory  to  college. 

d  State  recognition  of  special  social  functions  of  the  academy. 
One  of  the  best  indications  of  the  large  place  of  the  academy  and 
of  its  institutional  relationship  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  it  became 
during  this  period  an  institution  for  the  training  of  elementary  or 
common  school  teachers.  Beginning  with  suggestions  in  the  Regents 
Reports  of  1821  and  1823  and  followed  by  the  specific  recommen- 
dations of  Governor  DeWitt  Clinton  in  his  annual  messages  to  the 
Legislature,  this  function  of  the  academy  was  specifically  provided 
for  by  an  act  of  1834.'*  This  act  provided  that  the  excess  of  $1200 
of  the  income  of  the  literature  fund  be  devoted  to  this  purpose  and 
the  Regents  immediately  drew  up  a  course  of  study  and  designated 
an  academv  in  each  senatorial  district,  thus  systematizing  a  work 


"■Messages  of  the  Governors   (ed.  by  C.  Z.  Lincoln),  3:213. 

'"  See  petition  of  trustees,  Assembly  Jour.,  1838,  p.  517,  540. 

•'  Common  School  Assistant,  2 :40. 

'*  Regents  Minutes   (MSS),  v.  4,  p.  22. 

"Laws  of  1834,  chap.  199;  see  also  Laws  of  1850,  chap.  262. 

•*Laws  of  1834,  chap.  241.    See  also  Laws  of  1827,  chap.  228. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  2/ 

that  was  as  old  as  the  academy  itself.  An  act  of  1838  provided  that 
schools  receiving  the  sum  of  $700  from  the  Hterature  fund  should 
establish  teacher-training  departments,  a  measure  that  failed  of 
results  because  of  the  fact  that  such  institutions  were  in  a  number 
of  cases  not  suited  because  of  nature  or  location  to  carry  on  this 
work.'^  In  the  meantime  the  administration  had  been  transferred 
to  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,''^  and  thus  there  came 
about  a  gradual  change  in  policy  which  brought  the  temporary  ter- 
mination of  the  system  in  1844  with  the  establishment  of  the  state 
normal  school.  By  1849  tbe  academy  was  again  recognized,''  this 
time  as  a  supplementary  agency  with  the  normal  school,  the  number 
of  teachers  classes  was  increased,  and  the  administration  restored 
to  the  Regents  where  the  authority  remained  until  1889.  In  1853, 
91  schools  report  a  total  of  1570  pupils  in  training  as  teachers.'* 
In  this  same  year,  the  permanent  establishment  of  these  departments 
was  effected  by  an  appropriation  of  $18,000  and  within  the  year 
another  act  was  passed  providing  that  these  pupil-teachers  pledge 
tliemselves  to  teach,  requiring  reports  to  the  Regents,  establishing 
requirements  as  to  the  size  of  classes  and  providing  a  pro  rata  appro- 
priation."^ Whatever  may  have  been  the  efficiency  of  the  system, 
and  there  were  radically  opposite  views  of  the  matter,  it  is  sufficient 
for  our  purpose  to  note  the  importance  of  the  step  in  the  recognition 
of  the  necessar)-  relationship  of  the  higher  and  the  lower  schools. 
A  single  quotation,  similar  in  tone  to  many  expressions,  will  indicate 
the  sentiment  of  leaders  who  favored  this  means  of  solving  the 
most  difficult  problem  confronting  the  elementary  school : 

As  affecting  more  extensively  the  general  welfare,  common  schools  are 
justly  entitled  to  the  first  consideration  and  the  most  liberal  patronage;  yet 
seminaries  of  a  more  elevated  rank  ought  to  be  sustained  and  cherished, 
for  many  reasons,  and  for  this  particularly,  that  upon  them  we  must,  in 
great  measure,  depend  for  competent  teachers  of  the  common  schools.^" 

To  many  this  assumed  function  of  the  academies  became  the 
essential  reason  for  any  public  aid  to  them. 

From  1834  on,  recognition  of  the  changed  status  of  secondary 
education  was  evidenced  in  legislation  empowering  the  Regents  to 


'^Laws  of  1838,  chap.  22)~.     See  Regents  Alinutes,  1839  (MSS"),  p.  230-31. 
'"Laws  of  1837,  chap.  241. 
''  Laws  of  1849,  chap.  174. 

"Regents  Rep't,  1854.  p.  20-22.     For  a  full  treatment  of  the  work  of  the 
academy  in  teacher-training,  see  Miller,  op.  cit.,  chap.  6. 
"  Laws  of  1853,  chap.  210  and  402  respectively. 
"*  Message  of  the  Governor,  Senate  Documents,  1834,  no.   i. 


28  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

grant  small  sums  to  individual  academies  for  the  purpose  of  provid- 
ing them  more  fully  with  "  books,  maps  and  globes  and  philosophi- 
cal and  chemical  apparatus."^^  A  little  later  grants  of  meteoro- 
logical apparatus  were  made  with  a  view  to  creating  at  the  various 
academics  local  observation  stations. ^■- 

3  Development  of  the  Elementary  ScJiool  System 
a  Early  legislation  and  general  status,  1795—18^/.  We  have  seen 
that  in  the  elementary  field  as  well  as  in  the  secondary,  there  was 
no  established  system  at  the  opening  of  the  period  of  statehood.^' 
By  enactments  of  1782  and  1786,  lots  were  set  apart  in  each  town- 
ship in  the  unappropriated  lands  of  the  State  for  the  use  of  the 
"  gospel  and  schools."^*  From  1787  on  the  Regents  urged  the  estal)- 
lishment  of  a  public  common  school  system,  evidently  conceiving 
that  the  power  to  provide  for  elementary  instruction  properly  came 
within  their  jurisdiction.^-"'  Following  the  vigorous  plea  of  Governor 
George  Clinton  in  his  annual  message  before  the  Legislature  in 
1795,*°  in  which  he  h^ld  that  the  academies  were  instructing  only 
those  of  means  and  that  the  great  majority  were  unprovided  for,  the 
Legislature  in  that  year  passed  "An  act  for  the  encouragement  of 
schools."®'  This  act  provided  temporary  elementary  educational 
facilities,  by  an  appropriation  annually  of  20,000  pounds  ($50,000) 
for  a  period  of  five  years.  The  features  of  the  act  that  proved  to 
have  a  large  degree  of  permanency  in  the  later  acts  relative  to 
common  schools  are  as  follows:  provision  for  instruction  "in  the 
English  language,  or  .  .  .  English  grammar,  arithmetic,  mathe- 
matics, and  such  other  branches  of  knowledge  as  are  most  useful 
and  necessary  to  complete  a  good  English  education,"  the  apportion- 
ment of  state  funds  .nmong  the  counties  according  to  population, 
the  obligation  of  the  county  supervisors  to  raise  a  definite  sum  as  a 
condition  of  receiving  the  state  aid,  the  provision  for  the  appoint- 
ment of   town   commissioners   by   the   town   meeting  and    for   the 


"Laws  of  1834,  chap.  140;  1849,  chap.  301;   1851,  chap.  536. 

"Laws  of  1849,  chap.  301;  185 1,  chap.  336;  1853,  chap.  219. 

'^  The  Colonial  Assembly  of  1691  had  under  consideration  a  bill  for  the 
purpose  of  appointing  "a  school-master  for  the  educating  and  instructing  of 
the  children  and  youth,  to  read  and  write  English  in  every  town  in  this 
Province"  ;  Assembly  Jour.,  1691-1773,  p.  7. 

"Laws  of  1782,  chap.  22;  1786,  chap.  67;  1805,  chap.  136. 

"Regents  Rep'ts  for  1793  and  1794,  in  Senate  Journals  for  respective  years; 
.'luoted  in  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  65-66. 

^Messages  from  the  Governors,  2:350.  The  Regents  Rep't  of  1795  shows 
that  out  of  471  pupils  in  7  reporting  academies,  about  one-half  were  studying 
the  common  branches;  Senate  Jour.,  1795. 

*'Laws  of  1795,  chap.  75. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPM  EXTS    PRIOR    TO     1853  29 

establishment  of  neighborhood  schools  through  voluntary  associa- 
tions which  laid  the  foundations  for  the  district  system.**  Reports 
from  16  counties  out  of  23,  in  1798,  gave  a  total  of  1352  schools 
with  59,660  pupils,  the  Comptroller  estimating  that  the  appropria- 
tion amounted  to  about  i  cent  a  day  for  each  child. *^  With  the 
lapsing  of  the  state  appropriation  in  1800,  came  a  practical  discon- 
tinuance of  the  public  elementary  schools,°°  but  in  1805  an  act  was 
passed  appropriating  500,000  acres  of  land  to  the  establishment  of 
a  common  school  fund,  the  interest  to  be  used  when  it  amounted 
to  $50,000  annually.'*^ 

By  an  act  of  1812,  with  its  revisions  of  1814  and  1819,^-  the  com- 
mon school  system  was  permanently  created.  The  statute  of  1795 
and  its  amendment  of  1796,  had  established  the  complete  lack  of 
application  of  these  laws  to  the  academies."^  Distinctive  features 
of  the  system  were: 

1  The  creation  of  the  office  of  a  State  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  with  powers  of  the  management  of  the  school  fund  and  the 
collection  of  statistics. 

2  The  establishment  of  the  district  as  the  unit  of  administration 
and   control,   and  as   a  legal   corporation. 

3  The  provision  for  intermediate  administrative  officers,  including 
the  county  supervisors,  town  commissioners  and  town  inspectors, 
with  major  duties,  respectively;  of  (a)  the  levying  of  taxes  and  dis- 
bursement of  funds,  (b)  the  distribution  of  funds  to  districts  within 
the  town  and  general  administrative  oversight  of  schools  of  the 
town,  (c)  the  visitation  and  reporting  of  individual  schools  and  the 
certification  of  teachers. 

4  The  granting  of  state  aid  to  be  apportioned  to  counties  on  the 
basis  of  population  and  to  districts  within  towns  on  the  basis  of  a 
census  of  those  between  5  and  15  years  of  age,  the  grant  carrying 
with  it  the  obligation  of  towns  (wnth  the  act  of  1814)  to  raise  an 
equivalent  sum  and  the  right  of  districts  to  supplement  this  with  the 
rate  bill  and  a  limited  building  tax. 


**  Swift,  F.  H.,  A  History  of  the  School  District  in  New  York  State.  See 
use  of  term  association  in  amendment  of  1796,  chap.  49.  Also  Sup't  Rep't, 
1839,  P-  18. 

'"Assembly  Jour.,  1798,  p.  282-85.  The  population  of  these  counties, 
according  to  the  U.  S.  Census  of  1800,  was  439,871. 

"Annual  Message  of  Governor  Clinton;  in  Messages,  op.  cit.,  2:512.  See 
also  Fitzpatrick,  The  Educational  Views  and  Influence  of  DeWitt  Clinton, 
p.  29  flf. 

"Laws  of  1805,  chap.  66;  see  also  supplementary  acts  1807,  chap.  32;  1814, 
chap.  83 ;  1819,  chap.  161  (which  raised  the  annual  appropriation  to  $70,000)  ; 
and  Revised  Statutes  of  1829-30. 

'"Laws  of  1812,  chap.  242;  1814,  chap.  192;  1819,  chap.  161. 

*""  Laws  of  1796,  chap.  49. 


30  Till-:    XRW    YORK    S'lATK    liKlil    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

There  was  little  signihcunt  legislaiiun  from  ihis  point  on  until 
the  end  of  the  fourth  decade  of  the  century,  other  than  the  discon- 
tinuance in  1821  of  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Schools  as  such 
and  the  consequent  placing  of  his  duties  upon  the  Secretary  of  State 
and  the  vesting  in  the  following  year  of  appellate  and  final  juris- 
diction of  all  matters  relative  to  the  common  schools  in  the  State 
Superintendent."*  The  former  of  these  acts  was  made  necessary 
through  the  political  appointment  of  a  successor  to  Gideon  Hawley 
who  had  served  ably  and  constructively  from  the  beginning  of  the 
initiation  of  the  system."^  The  latter  indicated  a  wholesome  tend- 
ency toward  centralization  and  soon  made  the  office  of  the  Superin- 
tendent a  much  more  important  factor  than  formerly. 

The  individual  schools  generally  failed  to  maintain  a  high  standard 
through  the  somewhat  incidental  type  of  state  governance  and  the 
decreasing  importance  of  the  state  fund  in  comparison  with  the 
growth  in  number  of  pupils.  If  we  may  judge  from  the  annual 
reports,  the  more  serious  evils  were  the  multiplicity  of  textbooks, 
the  increasing  subdivision  of  districts,  the  lack  of  public  sentiment 
for  education  which  resulted  in  short-sighted  economy  in  term- 
length,  wages  of  teachers  and  fitness  of  buildings,  as  well  as  the 
consequent  rise  in  the  forties  of  large  numbers  of  opposition,  or 
select  and  private  schools.  Somewhat  later  there  came  to  be  an 
appreciation  of  the  complete  inadequacy  of  the  system  of  super- 
vision through  town  commissioners  and  inspectors. ^^  The  New 
York  common  school  system,  however,  both  within  and  without 
the  State  and  even  abroad  came  to  be  known  as  <"he  most  successful 
of  systems  because  it  had  in  its  schools  more  pupils  per  population 
unit  than  any  other  state  or  nation.  For  many  years  the  reports 
revealed  the  fact  that  more  pupils  were  in  the  schools  than  enumer- 
ated as  between  the  ages  of  5  and  15,  both  from  the  years  1824  to 
1830  and  again  from  1835  on.  No  adequate  explanation  was  given 
in  the  Superintendents'  annual  reports  but  the  great  source  of  this 
anomalous  statistical  situation  is  undoubtedly  indicated  by  Francis 
Dwight  who  said  that  every  child  attending  "  but  for  a  single  day, 
is  returned  as  attending  schools,  and  thus  hundreds  in  every  county 
swell  the  returns,  who  instead  of  eight  months,  were  not  actually 


••Laws  of  1821,  chap.  240;  1822,  chap.  245. 

•^  See  his  Annual  Reports,  especially  those  of  1814  and  1819.  Mr  Hawley 
ihen  served  as  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Regents  until  1842  and  from  1842 
10  1870  as  a  Regent,  thus  forming  one  of  many  links  between  the  two  sys- 
tems.    The  office  was  reestablished  in  1854. 

"Sup't  Rep'ls,  1837,  p.  24-25;  1838,  p.  23. 


KDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPM  F.XTS    I'KIOK    TO     1853  3I 

taught  tight  days."'''  Satisfaction  was  expressed  with  the  state 
method  of  apportionment,  each  superintendent  in  turn  noting  the 
advantages  over  the  free  system  of  Connecticut  or  any  system  which 
did  not  hold  out  a  state  bounty  of  such  amount  only  to  act  as  an 
incentive  or  inducement  to  the  local  unit.°^  The  "  standard  of 
education "  was,  however,  felt  to  be  low  and  the  source  was 
ordinarily  sought  in  the  lack  of  properly  qualified  teachers.  We 
liave  already  seen  that  the  academy  was  conceived  to  be  the  means 
for  the  removal  of  this  handicap. 

In  the  meantime  private  agencies  were  working  for  the  "  improve- 
ment of  the  common  schools."  In  the  Superintendent's  report  of 
1826,  note  was  made  of  the  appearance  of  the  American  Journal  of 
Education  and  its  possibilities  in  the  creation  of  public  sentiment 
and  breadth  of  view  in  education.  From  1836  to  1840  there  was 
published  the  Common  School  Assistant,  a  journal  edited  by 
J.  Orville  Taylor,  printed  in  large  numbers  and  widely  dissemi- 
nated.^^  During  the  thirties,  notices  are  found  in  the  current  edu- 
cational magazines,  notably  the  Annals  of  Education  and  the  Com- 
mon School  Assistant,  of  county  and  local  associations  and  con- 
ventions. At  least  fifteen  of  the  northern  and  eastern  counties  had 
some  such  organization  by  1840,  and  in  at  least  two  of  them,  the 
work  of  the  association  was  extended  through  the  appointment  of 
an  agent  to  go  about  the  towns  lecturing  on  educational  topics  and 
rendering  such  assistance  as  he  might  to  the  teachers.^  State  con- 
ventions of  the  "  friends  of  education  "  were  held  in  Utica  in  1830, 
1831  and  1837,-  at  which  the  leaders  of  education  not  only  of  New 
York  but  also  of  neighboring  states  met  to  discuss  the  means  of 
reform  in  the  common  schools.  Among  the  topics  which  were  much 
discussed  were  the  extension  of  the  course  of  study  and  the 
classification  of  pupils.  The  period  from  1838  to  1853  is  marked 
by  distinct,  if  uncertain,  signs  of  progress.  The  succeeding 
paragraphs  treat  of  this  progress  as  regards  the  enlarged  powers  of 
state  participation,  developments  in  the  district  system  through 
extension  of  its  curriculum  and  consolidation  of  districts,  and  the 


"Reports  of  County  Boards  of  Visitors,  in  Assembly  Documents,  1841, 
no.  153,  p.  "/J.  S.  R.  Hall,  the  well-known  author  of  School-Keeping,  said  in 
1833,  before  the  American  School  Agents'  Society,  that  there  were  between 
50.000  and  80,000  uninstructed  children  in  the  State;  Annals,  3:525- 

'*  Sup't  Rep'ts,  1816.  1833,  1834  and  1840. 

"^  Bardeen,  C.  W.,  The  History  of  Educational  Journalism  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  p.  5-10. 

^Annals,  3:426  fif;   Common  School  Assistant,   1:91. 

'Annals    i.  pt  i,  p.  175,  and  pt  2,  p.  155-59;  also  7:329. 


t^Z  Till-:    NEW    YORK    STATE    IIICH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

rise  of  distinct  city  and  village  systems  in  which  many  features  of 
the  modern  city  system  were  to  be  found. 

h  Increased  state  support  and  control^  iS^S-i8j2.  The  first 
forward  step  was  taken  in  1838,  in  which  year  an  act  was  passed 
bv  which,  through  the  appropriation  of  the  income  of  the  United 
States  deposit  fund,  the  sum  annually  distributed  to  the  common 
schools  was  increased  from  $110,000,  at  which  point  it  had  remained 
for  a  decade,  to  $275,000."  Article  9  of  the  constitution  of  1846 
established  the  inviolability  of  the  United  States  deposit  fund,  as 
well  as  the  common  school  and  literature  funds  and  provided  for 
the  annual  supplementation  of  the  common  school  fund  with  an 
increment  from  the  income  of  the  deposit  fund  of  the  sum  of 
$25,000.  The  value  of  this  increased  aid  was  enhanced  by  the 
incorporation  mto  the  state  system  of  certain  of  the  voluntary 
activities  of  the  period,  particularly  the  provision  for  county  boards 
of  visitors  in  1839,  and  in  1841  the  adoption  of  the  District  School 
Journal  as  the  official  organ  of  the  Department  to  be  sent  to  all  the 
districts.*  In  the  latter  year  and  through  the  same  act  there  was 
established,  chiefl}-  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  visitors,  a  system 
of  county  or  deputy  supervision,  which,  while  abolished  in  1847,  not 
to  be  renewed  until  1856,  was  perhaps  the  most  important  single 
piece  of  educational  legislation  up  to  this  time.  This  body  of  men, 
among  whom  were  many  of  the  leading  educators  of  the  State,  were 
given  duties  of  inspection,  visitation,  supervision  and  certification, 
that  made  them,  despite  the  largeness  of  the  units  of  administration, 
an  essential  link  in  the  system.  Their  reports,  together  with  those 
of  the  county  boards  of  visitors,^  form  the  most  illuminating  picture 
of  the  status  of  the  schools,  and  served  the  double  purpose  of  direct- 
ing state  legislation  and  of  keeping  the  various  districts  of  the  State 
in  touch  with  progressive  movements.  At  their  annual  coven- 
tions  there  were  discussed  the  leading  problems  of  the  era  known 
as  the  "  educational  revival,"  and  by  such  leaders  as  Mann,  Barnard. 
Emerson,  Potter,  Judge  Hammond  and  Francis  Dwight.  The  lapse 
of  the  county  supervisory  system  and  the  return  to  the  town  unit 
with  the  town  superintendent  as  the  substitute  meant  a  return  to 


'  Laws  of  1838,  chap.  237 ;  see  also  Governor  Seward's  Message  for  1837, 
in  Assembly  Jour.,  p.  8-9. 

*Laws  of  1839,  chap.  330  (see  also  Governor's  Message,  Assembly  Jour., 
p.  29-31) ;  1841,  chap.  260. 

'Assembly  Documents,  1840,  no.  307;  1841,  no.  153.  For  deputy  superin- 
tendents' reports,  see  annual  reports  of  State  Superintendent  and  columns 
of  the  District  School  Journal. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEPARTMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  33 

the  constant  series  of  appeals  of  petty  district  quarrels  to  the 
office  of  the  State  Superintendent/'  a  lapsing  of  vital  leadership  and 
a  minimum  of  supervision  and  direction  of  the  town  and  district 
school  officers.  Some  progress  was  made  in  the  field  of  teacher- 
training  through  the  establishment  in  1844  of  the  state  normal 
school,'  and  further  by  the  development  of  teachers  institutes, 
beginning  in  1842,  and  subsidized  by  an  act  of  1847.^  By  1845  ^^^ 
1846  the  agitation  for  free  schools  was  well  underway,  receiving  its 
initial  impetus  in  the  county  superintendents'  conventions  of  those 
years.^  Taken  up  by  the  constitutional  convention  of  1846  and 
embodied  in  the  superintendents'  resolution  which  was  passed,  recon- 
sidered and  rejected,  the  principle  was  established  by  acts  of  1849 
and  1851/"  The  rate  bill  was  not  abolished,  however,  until  1867. 
The  State's  significant  part  was  to  be  played  in  the  administration 
of  a  tax  of  $800,000  (later  changed  to  a  mill  tax)  to  be  levied 
annually  for  the  support  of  free  schools  according  to  the  act  of  185 1, 
the  first  considerable  slate  tax  to  have  been  levied  for  any  purpose.^^ 
Despite  the  large  amount  of  voluntary  activity  of  the  thirties  and 
following,  which  aimed  at  the  general  "  improvement  of  common 
schools  "  as  the  foundation  of  stable  political  society,  and  the  later 
legislative  activity  which  sought  better  teachers,  better  supervision 
and  increased  support,  the  status  of  the  district  schools,  except  in 
certain  of  the  larger  villages  and  cities  to  which  attention  will  be 
given  later,  was  comparatively  unchanged.  The  Superintendent's 
report  for  1853  gave  11,864  districts,  with  622,268  pupils  in  attend- 
ance out  of  1,150,532  enumerated.^-  A  large  decrease  was  noted 
in  the  number  of  inspections,  as  well  as  in  attendance,  while  the 
number  in  attendance  for  less  than  four  months  comprised  more 
than  two-fifths  of  those  in  attendance  during  the  year.  The  rate 
bill  continued  to  be  used,  the  amount  raised  thereby  constituting 
about  one-sixth  of  the  total  of  all  school  moneys  and  exceeding 
slightly  the  amount  of  district  taxes. 


'See  Sup't  Rep't  for  1851,  p.  8-9;  also  Dix,  Common  School  Decisions, 
1837,  as  to  the  nature  and  number  of  appeals  during  the  decade  1827-37. 

'Laws  of  1844,  chap.  311. 

'  Laws  of  1847,  chap.  361.  See  also  Randall,  S.  S.,  History  of  the  Com- 
mon School  System  of  the  State  of  New  York,  1871,  p.  186  tT. 

°  Randall,  op.  cit.,  p.  198  ff.  Also  the  numbers  of  the  District  School 
Journal,  v.  7-12,  and  the  Sup't  Rep'ts  from  1846  on. 

"Laws  of  1849,  chap.  140;    1851,  chap.  151. 

"  Fairlie,  Centralization  of  Administration  in  New  York  State,  p.  160. 

"  See  p.  3-5.  The  report  notes  an  inexplicable  discrepancy  of  figures  in 
that  the  total  "  number  of  children  taught  "  is  866,935. 


34  THE   NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL   SYSTEM 

c  Extension  of  the  elementary  currlcii'lum.  Some  sporadic 
progress  had  been  made  in  the  way  of  an  extension  of  the  curriculum 
to  embrace  higher  subjects.  As  early  as  1826,  Governor  DeWitt 
Clinton  in  the  annual  message  to  the  Legislature  suggested  that  most 
of  the  years  of  elementary  instruction  were  wasted  and  could  be 
used  in  a  study  of  the  elements  of  algebra,  mineralogy,  agricultural 
chemistry,  mechanical  philosophy,  etc."  In  that  year  the  history 
of  the  United  States  Vv^as  reported  as  studied  in  some  schools  of  six 
towns;  by  1832  it  was  reported  in  52  towns  and  by  1834,  in  104 
towns.  In  the  latter  year  the  Superintendent  advocated  the  teach- 
ing of  criminal  and  civil  jurisprudence  and  constitutional  law,^* 
and  in  1837  in  addition  to  these  the  "  elements  of  natural  philosophy 
and  mechanism,  of  chemistry  and  political  science. "^^  In  this  report 
we  have  perhaps  the  earliest  official  suggestion  of  the  high  school, 
the  belief  being  expressed  that  by  this  extension  of  the  curriculum 
upwards  the  great  mass  of  people  would  have  the  same  advantage 
as  those  who  attended  higher  schools.  In  1840,  the  Superintendent 
in  a  summary  of  the  reports  of  the  county  boards  of  visitors  took 
the  position  "  that  there  is  no  reason  why  the  highest  branches  of  an 
English  education  taught  in  our  academies  may  not  be  pursued  in 
our  common  schools."^^ 

Something  of  the  progress  of  the  movement  to  include  the  higher 
branches  may  be  seen  from  table  5.  Early  reports  in  terms  of 
numbers  of  towns  do  not  indicate  whether  or  not  more  than  one 
school  and  one  pupil  were  engaged  in  such  studies. 


"  Quoted  in  Randall,  op.  cit.,  p.  51. 
"Sup't  Rep'ts,  1834,  p.  22;  1835,  p.  Z2. 
"Sup't  Rep't,  1837,  p.  21. 

"  Assembly  Documents,  1840,  no.  307.     Such  was  the  situation  in  some  of 
the  city  schools,  for  example,  Rochester  and  Bufifalo,  op.  cit.,  p.  59-60,  101-6. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853 


Table  5 
Introduction  of  higher  subjects  in  the  common  schools' 


NO.    TOWNS   REPORTING 
SUBJECTS    IN    VEARS 

NO.  TEXTS 

REPORTED 

I84I 

NO. 

CLASSES 

184I 

NO.  OF  PUPILS' 

1826 

1832 

1834 

1836 

Winter 
1844 

Summer 
1844 

Algebra 

Astronomy 

Bookkeeping 

Chemistry 

Geometry 

History,  not  U.  S.  . 

2 
"7 

13 

2 
6 

2 
3 

I 

4 

I 
2 
2 
I 
5 

17 

I 

2 

3 

4 

1 
8 

3 

I2I 

II 
22 

5' 

I 

2 

1 

8> 
I7< 

2  316 
217 
903 
189 
644' 


558 
4  712 

I  776 

191 

730 

43 

384' 

Nat.  hist.  &  botany. 
Philosophy 

a   Mental 

b  Natural 

I 

9 

386 
2    769 

Surveying 

1  In  addition  there  were  reported  "  several  in  one  town." 

2  The  number  of  common  school  branches  has  increased,  and  some  of  the  other  branches  are 
also  included  as  "  other  subjects,"  a  miscellaneous  list. 

'  Includes  surveying  and  higher  mathematics. 
•  Sixteen  of  which  are  in  one  town. 

With  the  aboHtion  of  the  county  superintendent's  office  in  1847 
records  are  no  longer  available,  but  general  reports  indicate  a  much 
more  rapid  progress  in  the  decade  following  those  shown  with  the 
incomplete  data  in  table  5.  While  therefore  the  mere  adding  of 
higher  subjects  to  a  common  or  elementary  school,  often  at  the 
risk  of  comparative  neglect  of  the  elementary  branches,  does  not 
of  itself  constitute  a  high  school,  it  was  the  first  significant  step  in 
that  direction,  for  thereby  the  local  unit,  usually  a  district,  became 
accustomed  to  the  support  in  part  or  wholly  by  taxation,  of  the 
special  classes  or  higher  departments. 

d  Modifications  of  the  district  system:  consolidation  or  union  of 
districts.  Of  much  greater  promise  was  the  movement  toward  the 
establishment  of  what  came  later  to  be  generally  called  union  schools. 
The  practice  must  have  arisen  very  early  of  employing  in  more  popu- 
lous districts  two  or  more  teachers.  By  a  decision  of  Superintend- 
ent Flagg  in  1826,  such  a  district  in  the  village  of  Sacket  Harbor, 
which  had  earlier  found  it  necessary  to  hire  three  teachers  and 
provide  a  second  building,  was  ruled  to  be  one  district,  rate  bills  and 
taxes  to  provide  equality  of  opportunity  for  all  children. ^^  In  a 
decision  in  1829  by  which  an  appeal  was  dismissed  which  sought  the 
annulment  of  the  act  of  the  school  commissioners  in  dividing  a 


"  Sup't  Rep'ts,  except  for  6th  column   ("no.  of  classes"),  which  is  found 
in  the  County  Boards  of  Visitors  Report. 
"  Common  School  Decisions,  op.  cit.,  p.  4-8. 


36  THE    XEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

district,  the  Superintendent  added:  "  If  the  inhabitants  of  a  large  dis- 
trict can  act  in  harmony,  and  establish  a  high  school,  or  otherwise 
elevate  the  character  of  the  common  school,  it  would  undoubtedly 
be  useful  to  the  cause  of  education;  but  if  this  unity  of  sentiment  can 
not  be  produced,  they  can  not  have,  under  the  law,  any  other  than 
a  common  school. "^^  The  Superintendents'  reports  for  1834  and 
1835,-°  noted  that  the  number  of  teachers  was  slightly  in  excess  of 
the  number  of  schools  due  to  the  practice  of  employing  more  than 
one  teacher,  and  in  1838  for  the  first  time  official  recognition  was 
given  the  fact  that  the  continued  division  and  subdivision  of  dis- 
tricts was  "  one  of  the  greatest  evils  of  the  common  school  sys- 
tem."^^  In  the  report  for  1839,  the  loss  of  52  districts  in  13  counties 
was  attributed  to  the  consolidation  of  weaker  districts.--  In  the  fol- 
lowing year,  the  matter  was  taken  under  consideration  by  the  county 
board  of  visitors  of  Chenango  county,  and  at  the  annual  meeting 
held  in  January  1841,  the  report  favored  "  concentrating  the  district 
schools  in  villages  "  where  the  common  schools  were  generally  held  to 
be  the  least  efficient.^^  The  report  was  based  on  practice  in  the 
cities  of  Utica,  Rochester  and  Buffalo  and  the  villages  of  Vienna, 
Greene  and  Geneva,  and  advocated  a  division  into  four  departments 
the  last  of  which  should  embrace  instruction  in  the  "  languages  and 
the  highest  branches  of  English,  mathematics  etc."  In  the  same 
document,  the  visitors  of  Ontario  county,  in  rendering  a  brief  ac- 
count of  the  development  of  the  Geneva  Union  School,  stated  that 
the  origin  of  the  school  dated  from  the  realization  of  the  low  condi- 
tion of  the  village  schools  and  that  following  the  decision  of  the 
districts  to  unite  instead  of  further  subdivide,  the  progress  in  attend- 
ance and  place  in  public  opinion  was  remarkable."*  In  an  able  edi- 
torial in  the  October  number  of  the  District  School  Journal,  for  1841, 
now  the  official  state  journal,  the  subject  of  "  Union  Schools  "  is  put 
forth  as  the  means  of  several  reforms,  namely,  the  elevation  of  pub- 
lic, or  village,  educational  interest,  the  increase  of  educational  ad- 
vantages, the  equalization  and  diminution  of  expenses  for  schools 


"Ibid.,  p.  52-53. 

^  Sup't  Rep'ts,  1834,  p.  20;  1835,  p.  7. 

°  Sup't  Rep't,  1838,  p.  6-7.  The  remedy  lay  in  the  suggestive  power  of 
the  Superintendent  of  Schools  to  the  local  commissioners  who  decided  all 
such  questions.  An  illustration  of  their  iiicfficiency  is  seen  in  the  fact  that 
in  1841,  the  commissioners  of  the  town  of  Cuba  forbade  the  raising  of  a  tax 
sufificient  to  establish  a  union  school  on  the  ground  that  it  would  break  up  a 
select  school ;  see  Finegan,  Judicial  Decisions  of  the  State  Superintendent, 
1822-1914,  p.  7-10. 

"  Sup't  Rep't,  1839,  p.  18.    See  also  Sup'ts  Rep'ts  of  1842  and  1844. 

'^  Assembly  Documents,   1841,  no.   153,  p.   13-15. 

"Ibid.,  p. '75. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  Zl 

and  the  more  effective  application  of  school  moneys  through  the  gain 
in  classification  of  pupils."^ 

Superintendent  Spencer  in  the  report  of  the  same  year  had 
stressed  the  fact  that  the  town  commissioners  had  been  repeatedly 
urged  to  consolidate  weak  districts  or  unite  parts  of  them  to  other 
districts,  and  stated  that  it  was  under  consideration  to  effect  a  gen- 
eral revision  of  the  school  districts  of  the  State  to  adapt  their  location 
and  size  to  the  changed  situation  as  regards  population. -°  The  ques- 
tion came  before  the  State  Department  again  in  1846,  when  a  letter 
from  citizens  of  the  village  of  Medina,  asked  advice  as  to  the  relative 
advantages  of  the  union  school  and  academic  plans. ^'  Superintend- 
ent Benton  in  his  reply  favored  the  union  school  plan  but  went  on  to 
state  that  the  common  schools  were  not  designed  to  teach  the  lan- 
guages, inasmuch  as  the  law  confined  its  work  to  an  English  educa- 
tion, and  further  that  it  was  not  permissible  to  charge  a  second  and 
higher  rate  of  tuition  for  the  more  expensive  teaching  of  these  sub- 
jects.^^  With  the  increased  absorption  of  the  State  Department  in 
other  questions  already  noted,  the  union  school  continued  to  receive 
the  attention  of  the  more  progressive  county  superintendents,  who 
suggested  in  their  annual  reports  various  advantages  and  methods  of 
consolidation,  stimulated  in  some  cases  at  least  by  the  utterances  of 
Mann  and  Barnard,  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  reports.^'' 
Resolutions  were  passed  at  their  annual  conventions  and  later  at  the 
State  Teachers  Association  gatherings  which  favored  its  adoption  as 
the  general  practice,  and  were  based  on  reports  of  committees  of 
these  conventions. ^°  In  1844  and  1845,  t^^e  county  conventions 
called  by  the  county  superintendent  in  Allegheny  county  indorsed  the 
union  school  and  in  the  debates  leading  to  such  resolutions,  the  future 


^District  School  Journal,  Oct.  i,  1841,  2:28-29.  Reference  was  also  made 
to  the  progress  of  the  movement  in  certain  New  England  states.  (See  Mass. 
Laws.  chap.  23,  sec.  49,  Rev.  Statutes,  1835,  and  chap.  189,  1838,  as  well  as 
Fourth  Annual  Report  of  Secretary  Horace  Mann  of  the  Mass.  Board  of 
Education,  1841,  p.  424-28.)  Francis  Dwight,  editor  of  the  Journal  at 
Geneva,  was  probably  prime  mover  in  founding  the  school  at  that  place. 

"  Sup't  Rep't,  1841,  p.  4.  A  decision  of  Superintendent  Flagg  in  1826  had 
made  it  clear  that  school  districts  were  to  be  organized  independent  of 
town  and  county  lines.  See  Cubberley,  Public  School  Administration, 
p.  (y-y,  for  interesting  graphs  indicating  the  modifications  of  the  district  system, 
with  progress  in  the  settlement  of  a  county. 

"  District  School  Journal,  June  1846,  7  :  59-60. 

^  Common  School  Decisions,  1837,  p.  47-48,  more  than  one  rate  of  tuition 
for  all  branches  ruled  illegal.  Cf.  Superintendent  Flagg,  1829,  p.  47-48.  Cf. 
Laws  of  1846,  chap.  119  and  207. 

"District  School  Journal,  4:87,  104.  Sup't  Rep'ts,  1843,  p.  394;  1844, 
p.   117,  638. 

'"'  District  School  Journal,  3  :  33  ;  44 :  83  ;  5  :  76-79.  107 ;  6 :  42-43,  49,  57-58. 
Also  New  York  Teacher  (1853),  1:227,  369. 


38  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

of  the  academy  was  called  in  question."^  From  1840  to  1853  some 
25  union  and  consolidated  schools  came  into  prominent  notice  either 
through  legislative  action  or  the  columns  of  the  official  journal;  of 
these  the  great  majority  were  scattered  along  the  important  trade- 
routes  in  the  newer  western  part  of  the  State.  Concrete  data  as  to 
the  status  of  the  earlier  union  schools  is  not  to  be  had  in  any  large 
measure  but  what  is  available  indicates  that  these  schools  were 
beginning  to  compete  with  the  academies.  The  "  Union  District 
School  "  of  Lodi  was  reported  in  1845  to  have  a  building  worth 
nearly  $2000.^-  Pittsford  Union  School  in  the  same  year  had 
prepared  students  for  Harvard  CoUege.^^  Palmyra  consolidated 
school  in  1848  was  provided  with  a  new  building  and  apparatus 
worth  $10,000  and  had  a  total  of  400  pupils  under  eight  teachers.^* 
While  legislative  action  did  not  keep  pace  with  the  demands  of 
educational  leadership  as  noted  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs,  such 
action  as  was  had  must  be  noted  here.  With  the  establishment  of  the 
system,  provision  was  made  for  the  joint  school  or  district  whose 
territory  was  cut  by  town  or  county  lines.  While  these  districts 
offered  certain  difficulties  in  administration  and  in  reporting,  they 
were  very  numerous  and  offered  an  opportunity  for  the  district  sys- 
tem to  adjust  itself  to  the  needs  particularly  of  villages  not  wholly 
within  a  single  town.^^  In  1835,  Superintendent  Dix  had  ruled  that 
in  the  case  of  united  districts  public  moneys  must  be  applied  equally 
to  the  benefit  of  all  the  pupils,  and  by  an  act  of  1841  full  provision 
was  made  for  the  consolidation  and  dissolution  of  districts  and  the 
adjudication  of  property  matters  in  such  cases. ^'^  The  same  act 
provided  indirectly  for  the  central  school  plan  by  allowing 
districts  to  "  designate  sites  for  two  or  more  school  houses." 
Further  general  legislation  tended  to  prohibit  rather  than 
foster  the  consolidation  of  districts,  especially  the  free  school  act  of 
1 85 1  which  provided  that  of  the  public  moneys  one-third  be  distri- 
buted among  the  districts,  without  regard  to  the  number  of  pupils.^' 


"District  School  Journal,  5:  108-9;  6:83. 

"District  School  Journal,  7:91.  This  is  the  first  school  called  a  union 
school  in  the  state  laws;  cf.  Laws  of  1846,  chap.  207. 

■^District  School  Journal,  6:57. 

'*  District  School  Journal,  9:76- 

•°  Common  School  Decisions,   1837,  p.  225-27. 

^'Laws  of  1841,  chap.  260.  See  also  LavVs  of  1846,  chap.  66;  1847,  chap. 
480;   1849,  chap.  382.  .       ,  ,  . 

"Laws  of  1851,  chap.  151.  For  statements  as  to  the  consequent  hardshin 
worked  by  this  provision,  see  the  New  York  Teacher,  1:142-43,  195;  Editor 
Valentine  (p.  213-14)  attributed  the  above  provision  to  the  representatives 
from  rural  districts  and  said  that  it  put  a  premium  upon  the  "  multiplication 
and  division  of  districts." 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  39 

It  accordingly  became  common  practice  to  seek  special  privileges  or 
powers  for  individual  districts  from  the  Legislature.  Without  at- 
tempting to  be  exhaustive,  the  following  list  of  powers  granted  to  a 
number  of  progressive  schools  with  t^-pical  illustrative  legal  pro- 
visions is  offered  as  showing  the  tendency  of  a  decade  of  special 
legislation  for  districts  exclusive  of  the  cities : 

1  Enlarged  powers  of  taxation,  generally  for  building  pur- 
poses.^^ 

2  Privilege  of  differentiation  of  rate  bills  for  lower  and  higher 
departments.^^ 

3  Right  to  provide  free  schools.*" 

4  Incorporation  as  permanent  districts,  not  subject  to  alteration 
except  by  the  Legislature,  and  with  powers  of  trustees  becoming 
those  of  boards  of  education  or  their  equivalent.*^ 

5  Consolidation  or  union  of  school  districts. *- 

6  Relief  to  consoHdated  districts,  so  that  grant  of  public  moneys 
on  the  district  basis  be  not  affected  by  consolidation.*^ 

7  Privilege  of  establishment  of  a  public  secondary  school,  free 
academy,  union  school  or  classical  school.** 

The  significance  of  the  first  four  groups  of  powers  noted  above  is 
rather  that  of  indicating  the  effort  of  progressive  schools  to  transcend 
the  limitations  of  the  general  laws  for  district  schools.  The  last 
three  groups  of  activities  indicate  the  specific  efforts  to  provide  for 
higher  public  education  and  will  be  taken  up  again  in  the  next  chap- 
ter. In  most  cases  these  acts  were  made  contingent  upon  a  past  or 
future  vote  of  the  local  electorate.  As  regards  the  uniting  of  schools 
by  legislative  enactment  or  reference  in  the  laws  to  such  schools,  it 
should  be  said  that  the  terms  "  consolidated  "  and  "  union  "  occur 
with  approximately  equal  frequency. 

e  Rise  of  city  systems:  monitorial  societies  paving  the  way  for 
corporate  boards  of  education.  Having  noted  the  establishment  of 
the  district  system  and  the  tendencies  working  toward  its  partial 
evolution,  it  remains  to  trace  the  special  developments  in  the  cities 
and  certain  progressive  villages.  In  the  main,  this  development  was 
from  the  laissez  faire  policy  of  the  English  supplemented  by  charity 


^Laws  of  1839,  chap.  229;  1844,  chap.  75;  1847,  chap.  264  and  335. 
""Laws  of  1846,  chap.  119  and  207;   1844,  chap.  175. 
""Laws  of  1847,  chap.  336;  1848,  chap.  81;   1853,  chap.  151  and  344. 
"Laws  of   1848,  chap.  81;   1852,  chap.  120;  1853,  chap.  252. 
**Laws  of  1847,  chap.  51;  1850,  chap.  293;  1851,  chap.  206;  1852,  chap.  75; 
1853,  chap.  305. 
"Laws  of  1852,  chap.  75;  1853,  chap.  59;  1853,  chap.  392. 
"Laws  of  1847,  chap.  51;  1850,  chap.  321;  1853,  chap.  155,  252  and  305. 


40  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOI.    SYSTEM 

schools  in  connection  with  the  churches,  through  a  period  of  quasi- 
public  control,  best  and  most  generally  represented  in  the  Lancaster- 
ian  or  monitorial  societies,  and  into  the  stage  of  local  and  largely 
independent  systems,  with  a  board  of  education  or  other  similar 
governing  body,  with  special  provisions  concerning  taxes  and  in 
some  cases  specific  legalization  of  higher  schools. 

The  first  state  common  school  act,  that  of  1795,  made  special  pro- 
vision for  the  existing  cities.  In  Albany  and  New  York  the  pub- 
lic money  was  to  be  apportioned  respectively  to  the  "  English 
schools  "  and  "  charity  schools."  The  city  of  Hudson  was  to  be 
considered  a  town  for  purposes  of  the  law.  In  1797,*^  upon  petition 
from  the  city  government  of  New  York  stating  that  the  "  manner  of 
conducting  the  private  schools  "  made  the  application  of  the  general 
act  impracticable,  there  was  passed  a  special  act  providing  a  special 
method  of  distribution  of  the  funds  and  empowering  the  mayor  and 
council  to  establish  and,  with  the  commissioners  of  schools,  to  govern 
such  free  schools  as  might  be  established  with  the  residue  of  funds. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  these  latter  provisions  were  carried  out. 
Fitzpatrick  finds  that,  in  spite  of  the  lapsing  of  the  general  school 
law,  the  cities  of  New  York,  Hudson,  Albany  and  Newburgh  were 
comparatively  well  provided  with  schools  of  both  secondary  and 
elementary  nature  at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century.*"  In 
New  York  City  alone  with  about  70,000  people,  he  found  listed  in 
Jones's  Directory  for  1805-6,  141  teachers  of  private  and  church 
schools.  Similarly  Longworth  in  1805,*'  lists  107  teachers  exclusive 
of  the  teachers  of  Columbia  College  and  inclusive  of  the  teachers  of 
all  but  three  of  the  church  charity  schools.  Of  these,  two  were 
music  teachers,  one  a  teacher  of  philosophy,  and  one  a  teacher  of 
mathematics. 

In  the  same  year  there  was  as  we  have  seen  provision  made  for 
the  beginning  of  a  common  school  system  on  the  solid  foundation  of 
a  permanent  fund.  There  was  also  initiated  the  beginning  of  the 
Lancasterian  movement  in  the  passage  of  "An  act  to  incorporate  the 
society  instituted  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  the  establishment  of 
a  free  school,  for  the  education  of  poor  children,  who  do  not  belong 
to  or  are  not  provided  for  by  any  religious  society."*^  This  followed 
a  memorial  of  prominent  New  York  citizens  in  which  was  stated  the 
fact  that  the  charity  schools  were  not  providing  for  all  the  children 


*'Laws  of  1797,  chap.  34. 

"Op.  cit..  p.  30-32.  ^  „     o,      ^ 

''Ibid.;  LonpTvvorth's  New  York  Register,  p.  "jfy^ll,  85-86,  162. 
**  Laws  of  1805,  chap.  108. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1 853  4I 

of  the  working  classes  and  that  in  consequence  ignorance  and  crime, 
as  well  as  poverty  and  disease,  were  becoming  a  lax  on  the  city  to  an 
alarming  degree."*" 

While  this  society  was  a  stock  corporation  in  which  membership 
was  attained  by  a  subscription  of  $8,  and  the  privileges  of  sending 
one  or  two  children  during  life  by  the  payment  respectively  of  sums 
of  $25  and  $40,  the  mayor  and  council  wxre  constituted  ex  officio 
members  of  the  corporation  and  annual  reports  of  the  trustees  of  the 
corporation  were  required  to  be  made  to  the  corporation  as  a  whole. 
In  1806  the  first  school  was  opened  on  the  monitorial  plan,  adapted 
from  the  general  scheme  of  Lancaster  and  made  possible  through 
private  subscription.  In  1807  and  again  in  1808  substantial  aid  was 
given  by  the  city  and  in  1807  an  act  was  passed  enabling  the  city  to 
appropriate  the  sum  of  $4000  for  the  erection  of  a  building  and  $1000 
yearly,  both  from  the  excise  funds.^°  In  1808  the  society  became 
the  "  Free  School  Society  "  and  the  restrictions  as  to  pupils  were 
removed.^^  The  general  act  of  1812  having  made  no  provision  for 
New  York  City,  a  supplementary  act  was  passed  the  following  year, 
causing  the  city  and  county  to  share  in  the  distribution  of  public 
moneys.  The  appointment  of  five  commissioners  was  to  be  made  by 
the  mayor  and  council  and  the  moneys  distributed  to  charity  schools 
alone,  of  which  several  were  specified  in  addition  to  the  Free  School 
Society.^^ 

Through  the  fact  that  the  monitorial  plan  was  used,  and  conse- 
quently few  teachers  employed,  in  spite  of  rapid  growth,  the  society 
asked  for  and  received  the  privilege  of  deviation  of  such  of  the 
public  moneys  as  it  saw  fit  to  other  purposes  than  the  payment  of 
teachers.^^  Very  soon  thereafter  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church  initiated 
a  policy  of  expansion  and  in  1822  obtained  the  same  privilege  of 
use  of  funds.  A  long  and  bitter  controversy  came  about  in  which 
the  arguments  of  the  trustees  of  the  society  in  opposition  to  the 
extension  of  this  privilege  to  church  organizations  were  mainly,  first, 
that,  by  the  act  of  181 3,  it  was  anticipated  that  the  Free  School 
Society  would  minister  to  the  educational  needs  of  all  children  not 


*' Quoted  in  full  in  Bourne,  History  of  the  Public  School  Society,  p.  3-4. 
This  is  a  detailed  account  of  the  complete  history  of  the  society.  Shorter 
accounts  are  to  be  found  in  Boese,  Public  Education  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  in  Fitzpatrick,  op.  cit. 

■^Laws  of  1807,  chap.  20.  A  second  like  sum  was  granted  for  a  second 
building  in  i8ii   (chap.  84)   and  an  additional  $500  annually. 

"Laws  of  1S08.  chap,  in;  see  also  Senate  Jour.,  1808,  p.  176. 

"Laws  of  1813,  chap.  52.  Later  special  acts  placed  other  schools  under 
the  law,  for  example,  the  Female  Association,  chap.  87,  1813. 

^'  Laws  of  1817,  chap.  145. 


42  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

already  provided  for  in  the  church  and  other  charity  schools,  and 
second,  that  the  school  fund  was  "  purely  of  a  civil  character,  being 
for  a  civil  purpose. "°*  The  Assembly  committee  on  colleges, 
academies  and  common  schools  further  raised  the  question  "  whether 
it  is  not  a  violation  of  a  fundamental  principle  of  our  legislation,  to 
allow  the  funds  of  this  State,  raised  by  a  tax  on  the  citizens,  designed 
for  civil  purposes,  to  be  subject  to  the  control  of  any  religious  cor- 
poration." By  an  act  of  1824  the  controversy  was  settled  whereby 
the  society  became  in  large  part  the  recognized  agency  of  public  in- 
struction in  the  city,  although  ostensibly  it  merely  provided  for 
closer  civic  control  through  the  appointment  of  a  body  of  ten  com- 
missioners upon  whom  were  placed  the  obligation  of  reports  to  the 
State  Superintendent  based  on  visitation,  and  who  were  constituted 
guardians  of  the  public  funds  and  their  distribution.^^  Of  still  more 
importance  in  determining  the  public  functioning  of  the  society  was 
an  act  of  1826,  changing  the  name  to  the  Public  School  Society,  and 
enabling  it  to  charge  a  small  fee,  with  the  specific  end  of  extending 
the  work  of  the  society  to  include  all  children,  thus  sounding  the 
death-knell  of  the  charity  idea.  The  pay  system  was  soon  found 
objectionable  and  was  abandoned  in  1832.^^  This  act  also  made 
permissible  the  transfer  of  the  society's  property  to  the  city,  with 
perpetual  lease  therefrom  for  educational  purposes. 

In  the  meantime  the  system  had  been  adopted  widely  throughout 
the  cities  and  larger  villages  of  the  State.  Recommended  in  1812 
by  the  commissioners  who  drafted  the  general  plan  of  organization 
of  the  state  school  system  for  the  "  serious  consideration  of  the 
Legislature,"^^  advocated  in  the  annual  report  of  Superintendent 
Hawley  in  1818  for  adoption  in  the  larger  villages  and  cities  and 
still  more  ardently  advocated  by  Governor  DeWitt  Clinton  in  his 
annual  messages  of  1818,  1820,  1822,  1826,  1827  and  1828,  the 
monitorial  plan  was  incorporated  in  a  general  law  in  1821  when  pro- 
vision was  made  that  these  schools  might  incorporate  and  place 
themselves  under  the  control  of  the  Regents  but  with  aid  from  the 
common  school  fund.-^     Hough  believes  that  but  four  schools  were 


"  Bourne,  op.  cit.,  gives  the  full  discussion  with  documents  relative  thereto, 
p.  48-75.  See  also  Memorial  to  Legislature  of  January,  1823,  and  Nineteenth 
Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  1824. 

"Laws  of  1824,  chap.  276. 

"Laws  of   1826,  chap.  25. 

"Assembly  Jour.,   1812,  p.   102-8. 

"Laws  of  1821,  chap.  61.  See  also  as  amended  in  Revised  Statutes,  1829, 
chap.  15,  title  i,  art.  6,  sec.  57-66. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  43 

incorporated  under  this  act,  two  becoming  typical  academies  and  two 
select  schools.'^^  Special  acts  instituting  local  systems  were  passed 
as  follows:  Albany,  1812  (chap.  55);  Poughkeepsie,  1814  (chap. 
42)  ;  Schenectady,  1816  (chap.  12)  ;  Catskill,  1817  (chap,  y"])  ;  Hud- 
son, 1817  (chap.  272);  and  Lansingburg,  1827  (chap.  271).  In 
general  the  acts  of  establishment  provided  for  a  limited  amount  of 
public  support  with  the  proviso  that  the  societies  should  be  respon- 
sible for  the  education  of  indigent  children.  However,  the  practice 
of  admitting  other  children  as  pay  pupils  was  practised,  at  least  in 
Albany.""  The  general  laws  of  the  State  placed  certain  of  these 
schools  under  the  general  act  to  the  extent  of  receiving  the  state 
moneys  of  the  city  or  district.  Such  systems  were  also  established 
in  Utica,''^  in  Troy,*^-  Ithaca,  Brooklyn,  Buffalo  and  Rochester  and 
no  doubt  in  other  large  centers  of  population.  Meanwhile  by  legis- 
lative enactments  of  1829  and  1831,"^  New  York  City  was  raising 
taxes  equivalent,  respectively  to  one-eightieth  and  three-eightieths  of 
I  per  cent  of  the  valuation  of  her  property,  the  major  part  of  which 
went  to  aid  the  Public  School  Society. 

As  early  as  1830  the  insufficiency  of  these  private  monopolies 
was  seen  in  certain  of  the  cities  where  the  movement  was  less 
extended  than  in  New  York,  and  in  1830  we  find  the  city  of  Albany 
authorized  to  establish  the  district  system."*  The  Superintendent  in 
the  following  year  pointed  out  the  needs  of  better  school  facilities 
in  Utica  and  Poughkeepsie  where  the  Lancasterian  schools  received 
in  the  one  case  all  and  in  the  other  case  the  greater  per  cent  of  the 
school  moneys  but  provided  for  a  very  small  minority  of  the  pupils. 
In  the  annual  report  of  1841  (p.  32-35),  the  subject  came  up  again 
for  special  discussion  and  the  systems  of  Poughkeepsie,  Hudson, 
Utica  and  Schenectady  where  the  monitorial  societies  were  still  in 
major  control  were  found  to  be  offering  very  meager  facilities,  as 
opposed  to  certain  cities  where  city  organization  had  been  established 
by  recent  legislation.  The  Superintendent  held  that  the  Lancasterian 
system  had  fallen  behind  the  needs  of  the  times  and  that  it  was  as 
a  private  institution  without  the  control  of  the  State.     Gradually 


"Op.  cit.,  p.  429-32. 

°*  Amer.  Jour,  of  Ed.,  1 :440-4l. 

"  Laws  of  1817,  chap.  192,  sec.  27-29.     See  also  History  of  Oneida  County, 

p.  31S  ff. 
"  Spaflford,  op.  cit,  p.  524. 
°^La\vs  of  1829,  chap.  265;  1831,  chap.  119. 
**Laws  of  1830,  chap.  240. 


44  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    Ilir.ll    SCHOOL    SYSTE:\I 

the  schools  of  these  societies  were  merged  with  those  of  the  cities 
and  there  passed  out  of  existence  the  system  which  had  done  much 
to  prepare  the  way,  even  if  negatively  in  some  cases  through  the 
offering  of  meager  facilities,  for  free  schools  and  organized  systems 
of  city  schools.^^ 

In  New  York  City,  the  organiza;ion  of  the  Public  School  Society, 
whose  function  we  have  seen  was  extended  in  1826,  was  maintained 
until  1853.  Some  of  the  more  significant  steps  in  its  absorption  by 
the  municipality  will  now  be  noted,  as  well  as  its  important  exten- 
sions of  functioning.  In  1822  the  board  of  trustees  took  up  the  ques- 
tion of  providing  facilities  in  the  "  higher  branches  of  an  English 
education,"  namely,  geography,  grammar  and  history.^"  In  1826 
the  annual  report  lists  the  tuition  rates  for  the  elementary  subjects 
and  adds  a  special  rate  for  "  grammar,  geography,  the  use  of  maps 
and  globes,  book-keeping,  history,  composition,  mensuration,  astron- 
omy, etc.,  "  and  by  1830,  a  small  number  of  pupils  are  listed  as  study- 
ing these  subjects.  In  the  year  1826  also  there  was  an  effort  to 
establish  a  central  school  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  training  teachers 
for  the  monitorial  system  and  for  a  means  of  promotion  of  the  more 
meritorious  students.''"  Again  in  1828,  together  with  the  effort  to 
bring  about  the  support  of  the  society's  schools  entirely  through 
taxation  so  that  the  schools  might  minister  to  the  needs  of  the  whole 
community  and  not  only  to  those  who  were  the  objects  of  charity, 
the  desirability  was  presented  of  establishing  high  schools  in  which 
practical  mathematics,  bookkeeping  and  natural  philosophy  should 
be  taught,  a  classical  school  for  the  languages  and  a  seminary  for 
the  training  of  teachers  in  the  monitorial  method. "**  Through  a 
variety  of  causes,  naught  came  of  these  ideals  but  a  slight  advance 
m  the  amount  of  the  local  tax,  a  steady  but  slow  development  of 
the  curriculum  upwards  and  by  1834  the  establishment  of  Saturday 
normals.     The  monitorial  method  came  to  be  adapted  more  and 


*'  Acts  were  passed  legalizing  such  amalgamations  as  follows :  Schenectady, 
1828  (chap.  223)  ;  Catskill,  1830  (chap.  284)  ;  Albany,  1834  (chap.  230)  ; 
Hudson,  1841  (chap.  350)  ;  Lansingburg,  1841  (chap.  315)  ;  Poughkeepsie, 
1843  (chap.  211)  ;  New  York,  1842  (chap.  150)  and  1853  (chap.  301). 

"Palmer,  The   New  York   Public   Schools,   p.   61. 

"  Amer.  Jour,  of  Ed.,  1826,  i  :  693. 

"Address  of  the  Trustees,  1828.  Also,  23d  Annual  Report.  The  24th 
Report  favored  a  "  system  of  public  free  schools  ...  a  system  of 
schools  supported  by  public  taxes  and  to  which  children  of  all  classes  may 
resort  as   a  matter  of   right." 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR   TO    1853  45 

more  to  the  needs  of  the  schools,  ^^  and  from  1828  on  a  visitor  or 
agent,  or  superintendent  as  he  was  sometimes  called,  acted  as  a 
means  of  providing  business  supervision  and  semiprofessional 
administration.""  Scholarships  granted  by  Columbia  (1839)  and  by 
New  York  University  were  considered  as  late  as  1842  as  providing 
ample  facilities  for  those  desiring  higher  education.'^  The  more 
immediate  cause  of  the  abrogation  of  the  privileges  of  the  society 
was  the  renewal  of  the  religious  controversy  from  1832  on.  The 
leaders  of  certain  of  the  religious  organizations  which  through  the 
law  of  1826  had  been  deprived  by  the  council  of  their  former  sup- 
port renewed  charges  of  sectarian  texts  as  well  as  demanded  aid 
in  teaching  their  poor  children.'-  Upon  the  careful  consideration 
and  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  and  the  annual 
message  of  Governor  Seward  in  1842,  there  was  established  a 
parallel  system  of  public  schools,  controlled  by  the  first  specifically 
named  **  board  of  education  "  of  the  State,'^  on  the  ground  that  the 
system  represented  a  departure  from  the  general  organization  of 
the  state  school  system.  The  victory  in  principle  at  least  was  won 
for  complete  divorce  of  religious  or  sectarian  participation  in  educa- 
tion and  for  the  quasi-private  method  of  organization  and  control. 
By  1853  the  reorganization  of  the  city's  common  schools  was  effected 
by  the  legal  and  voluntary  surrender  of  all  the  property  of  the 
Public  School  Society  to  the  board  of  education."* 

This  somewhat  extended  survey  of  the  Lancasterian  schools  has 
been  deemed  essential  as  indicating  the  contribution  they  made  to 
the  development  of  state  and  city  systems.  The  high  favor  which 
the  method  enjo}ed  in  the  eyes  of  the  early  educational  leaders  was 
undoubtedly  a  factor  in  establishing  the  common  school  system  and 
providing  the,  common  school  fund.'^  The  people  of  the  cities 
through  the  adoption  of  these  schools  become  used  to  the  principle 
of  free  schools.  The  schools  were  classified  and  higher  subjects 
were  introduced  in  the  upper   departments."''     Moreover  granting 


""Annals  of  Education  (1836),  6:435-36. 

'°  Palmer,  op.  cit.,  p.  78-79.     Also  Annals  of  Education,  4  :  335-36 ;  2  :  412. 
Also  Griscom,  J.,  Monitorial  Instruction,  p.  21. 
"  Sketch,    1842,    p.    34.    Cf.    Renwick,    Life    of    DeWitt    Clinton,    1840,    p. 

85. 

"Randall,   op.   cit.,   p.    119-38. 

"Laws  of  1842,  char).    150. 

"LaAvs    of    1853,    chap.    301;    Bourne,    op.    cit.,    p.    585. 

"  Report  of  the  Commissioners  for  the  Organization  and  Establishment 
of  Common  Schools,  Assembly  Tour.,  1812,  p.  102-8;  quoted  in  Randall, 
op.  cit.,  p.  17-23.     See  also  Renwick,  Life  of  DeWitt  Clinton,  p.  81. 

"As  to  Buffalo,  see  Assembly  Documents,  1840,  no.  307;  for  New  York, 
see  annual  reports  of   the  Public  School   Society,  from    1830  to   1853. 


46  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

special  privileges  to  the  cities  established  the  practice  of  special 
legislation  and  enabled  the  cities  for  the  time  being  to  run  ahead 
of  the  state  system,  and  thus  assume  the  leadership  of  the  State.  By 
1845  cities  and  larger  villages  had  free  schools  to  such  extent  that 
from  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  of  the  people  were  enjoying  such 
privileges  in  the  State  as  a  whole.^^ 

Reference  to  table  6  will  indicate  the  progress  from  the  district 
system  or  from  the  charity  and  monitorial  schools  in  the  various 
cities  of  the  State,  previous  to  1853.  Several  villages,  including 
Lockport,  Salem,  Poughkeepsie,  Medina,  Geneva,  Newburgh  and 
Flushing,  merit  a  place  in  this  table  but  it  has  been  limited  to  the 
cities.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  first  city  to  take  a  definite  step  for- 
ward was  Bufifalo,  in  which,  by  an  act  of  1837,  the  common  council 
became  ex  officio  a  board  of  school  commissioners  with  the  power 
to  appoint  a  superintendent  of  schools  as  its  "  executive  officer." 
In  the  period  covered,  the  office  was  established  in  more  than  half 
the  cities  and  in  those  where  no  such  office  was  established,  the 
clerk  of  the  board  generally  performed  such  duties,  largely  of  a 
business  and  clerical  nature.  In  the  columns  of  the  New  York 
Teacher  for  1852,  the  official  organ  of  the  State  Teachers  Associa- 
tion, note  was  made  that  in  that  year  in  Buffalo  for  the  first  time 
a  professional  teacher  was  appointed  superintendent  of  schools.''^ 
Of  even  greater  import  for  this  period,  was  the  establishment  of 
boards  of  education  or  boards  of  commissioners  of  common 
schools,  beginning  with  the  delegation  of  certain  powers  to  the 
common  council  or  the  district  trustees  of  the  various  district 
schools.  Generally  elected  by  the  constituency  of  the  various  wards 
or  districts,  this  body  tended  to  take  on  the  power  of  appointment 
of  the  superintendent.  Moreover  it  was  made  a  corporate  body 
with  powers  equivalent  to  those  of  district  trustees  but  with  enlarged 
functions  as  to  the  organization  of  schools,  "  such  and  so  many  " 
as  they  deemed  expedient,  of  classification  and  transfer  of  pupils, 
of  certification  of  teachers,  of  determination  of  courses  of  study  and 
of  furnishing  the  common  council  with  estimates  of  needed  funds 
usually  stipulated  by  law  as  from  twice  to  six  times  the  amount  of 
state  aid.  Progress  was  rapid  in  the  development  of  a  larger  type 
of  building  and  school,  extended  programs  of  study  and  increased 
facilities  for  education.     Table  6  has  been  expressed  in  terms  of 


^'  Sup't  Rep't,  1849,  p.  43-44,  47- 

"Op.   cit.,   p.  65.    Ibid,   p.    159,  as  to  Auburn. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  47 

the  legislation,  as  these  special  acts  were  uniformly  carried  out, 
since  they  were  expressions  of  public  sentiment.  For  a  more  com- 
plete statement  of  the  growth  of  city  systems,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  brief  individual  histories  given  in  the  1904  annual  report  of 
the  Department  of  Public  Instruction,  under  the  caption  "  Fifty 
Years  of  Education." 


48 


THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


Table 
Significant  developments  in  cities  of 


EAULY  STEPS  TOWARD 
SYSTEM 


BOARD  OF  ED.  OR  COMM  RS 
OF   COMMON  SCHOOLS 


Albany  (1686) . 


Auburn  (1848) . . , 
Brooklyn  (1834) . 


Buffalo  (1832) . 
Hudson  (1785). 


New  York  City  (1686). 


Oswego  (1848).  . . 
Rochester  (1834). 


Schenectady  (1839). 
Syracuse  (1847) . . . . 
Troy  (1816) 


Utica  (1832). 


Williamsburg  (1851). 


I/.  1830,  ch.  240,  provides 
for  dist.  system 


L.  1848,  ch.  106,  considers 
city  equiv.  to  town  ^ 

L.  1835,  ch.  129,  app.  3 
comm'rs  and  3  inspec- 
tors for  city 

L.  1837,  ch.  392;  city 
equiv.  to  town 

L.  1795,  ch.  75;  city  equiv. 
to  town;  L.  1829,  ch. 
61;  each  ward  equiv.  to 
town 

L.  1826,  ch.  25;  Public 
School  Soc. 


L.     1834,    ch.     199;     city 

equiv.  to  town 
L.     1850,     ch.     262;    city 

equiv.  to  dist. 
L.     1814,    ch.    27;    wards 

equiv.  to  towns 

L.    1832,  ch.   203,   creates 

Svracuse    a    permanent 

dist. 
L.  1849,  ch.  198;  all  wards 

one  dist. 
L.    1851,    ch.    366;    each 

ward  a  dist. 


L.  1841,  ch.  181,  const.  3 
separate  school  dists. 


L.  1844,  ch.  128;  ex.  off.'. 


L.  1848,  ch.  106,  ex.  off. 
L.  1850,  ch.  349;  in  part 

app. 
L.  1843,  ch.  63;  app.  and 

in  part  ex.  off. 
L.  1850,  ch.  143;  app. 
L.  1837,  ch.  392;  ex.  off.  . 

L.  1841,  ch.  350;  ex.  off.  . 


L.  1842,  ch.  150;  elect.*.  . 

L.  1853,  ch.  119;  elective. 

L.   1834,  ch.   199;  ex.  off. 

L.  1850,  ch.  262;  app. 


L.  1848,  ch.5  238;  app. . 
L.  1849,  ch.  198;  elect. 

L.  1842,  ch.  137;  elect. 
L.  1851,  ch.  171;  elect. . 


'  In  general,  where  no  superintendent  was  provided  for,  the  ofhce  was  filled  by  a  clerk  with 
similar  duties. 

'  Acts  constituting  the  city  or  wards  districts,  were  for  the  purpose  of  making  provision  for 
the  execution  of  the  general  law  which  was  a  district  school  law,  with  the  town  as  unit  of  more 
extensive  nature. 

'  Ex  officio  boards  usually  consisted  of  the  common  council  and  mayor,  except  in  case  of 
Albany  where  the  mayor,  recorder  and  local  Regents  made  up  the  board;  if  the  boards  were  in 
part  ex  officio,  the  additional  members  were  the  mayor  and  recorder,  usually. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853 


49 


New  York  State  previous  to  1853 


CITY  SUP'tI 


L.  1848,  ch.  106;  elective 
L.  1850,  ch.  349;  app. 

L.  1848,  ch.  8;  app 


L.  1837,  ch.  392;  app.  L. 

1853,  ch.  230;  elective 
L.  1841,  ch.  350;  board  of 

3  superintendents,  app. 


L.  1851,  ch.  386;  app .  .  . . 

L.  1848,  ch.  116;  elective. 

L.  1841,  ch.  208;  app 
L.  1848,  ch.  174;  elect, 
L.  1850,  ch.  262;  app 
by  board 


FREE   SCHOOLS 


L.  1850,  ch.  349- 
L.  1843,  ch.  3... 


L.  1838,  ch.  63. . 
L.  1841,  ch.  350. 

L.  1842,  ch.  ISO. 

L.  1853,  ch.  119. 
L.  1841,  ch.  208. 


L.  1849,  ch.  198. 


L.  1844,  ch.  181. 


PHOVISION   FOR   HIGHER 
PUBLIC   EDUCATION 


L.  1844,  ch.  128,  provides  that 
indigent  pupils  be  taught 
free  in  local  academies,  or 
normal  school 


L.  1853,  ch.  230,  provides  for 
central  school 


L.  1847,  ch.  206,  provides  for 
free  academy 


L.  1834,  ch.  199  and  L.  1845, 
ch.  118,  provide  for  high 
schools  8 

L.  1837,  ch.  95 ;  Schenectady 
Lyceum  to  educate  one 
pupil  from  each  town  of  co  ' 

L.  1848,  ch.  238,  provides  for 
"  high  schools  "  " 


L.  1853,  ch.  272,  const.  Utica 

Academy    one    of    common 

schools 
L.  1851,  ch.  171,  provides  for 

a   high   school   or  academy; 

not  established 


*  See  earlier  pages  for  the  place  of  the  Public  School  Society  in  providing  the  equivalent  of 
common  schools,  without  charge  except  in  the  years  1826-32.  With  the  county  superintendent 
law,  1841-47,  this  officer  practically  became  a  city  superintendent.  New  York  was  excepted  in 
the  repeal.      The  last  county  superintendent  became  the  first  city  superintendent. 

'Duties  of  superintendent  performed  by  the  clerk;  see  School  Bulletin,  i:  2,  or  Smith, 
History  of  Syracuse  Schools,  p.  68  ff. 

•  Not  true  high  schools;  monitorial  probably  and  really  intermediate  in  nature. 
'  Laws  of  New  York,  1854,  chap.  178,  creating  union  school  in  city. 


50  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

Summary  of  Educational  Development  in  New  York  State  to  18^3 
By  the  middle  of  the  century,  New  York  State  had  a  population 
of  more  than  three  million.  The  second  quarter  of  the  century  had 
seen  a  remarkable  development  of  factory  industry."^  In  1825  the 
Erie  canal  was  opened  and  proved  an  additional  inducement  for 
westward  migration.  Progressive  villages  and  young  cities  grew  up 
along  its  route  in  what  was  practically  a  wilderness  at  the  beginning 
of  statehood.  After  1825  the  building  of  railroads  had  gone  on 
uninterruptedly,  until  in  1853  the  nine  little  roads  between  Albany 
and  Bufifalo  were  consolidated  in  the  New  York  Central  system. 
The  constitution  of  1821  provided  for  the  removal  of  property 
qualifications  for  suffrage  and  paved  the  way  for  the  development 
of  democratic  institutions  and  attitudes;  that  of  1846  strengthened 
the  administrative  machinery  of  the  State,  and  provided  for  the 
better  regulation  of  corporations  and  business  interests.  Before 
turning  to  further  educational  developments,  which,  for  our  purpose 
in  a  study  of  the  high  school,  begin  with  the  union  free  school  act 
of  1853,  ^^t  "s  summarize  educational  progress  to  1853  ^s  reviewed 
in  the  present  chapter. 

1  The  Dutch  public  school  tradition,  itself  akin  to  the  early  educa- 
tional enterprise  of  the  New  England  States  except  as  regards  local 
autonomy,  suffered  markedly  upon  the  transfer  of  political  power 
to  the  English.  The  latter's  practice  of  voluntary  schools  for  the 
upper  classes  and  charity  schools  for  the  poor  was  the  contribution 
of  their  rule  to  the  State.  The  Latin  grammar  school  had  been  too 
sporadic  a  development,  although  public  under  each  regime,  to 
establish  any  significant  precedent. 

2  The  comparatively  rapid  development  of  the  academies  was 
due  to  the  lack  of  earlier  school  facilities,  together  with  the  support 
afforded  by  both  general  funds  and  special  grants.®"  Moreover  in 
the  second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  their  curriculums  had 
so  extended  that  it  v.'ould  seem  safe  to  say  that  the  opportunities 
of  following  out  one's  tastes  could,  within  the  limits  of  the  status 
of  the  subjects,  be  realized  more  than  for  any  other  period.  College 
domination  was  never  strong,  and  the  academy  was  regarded  as 


•'  See  Spafford,  A  Gazeteer  of  New  York  State,  1824,  for  a  mass  of 
concrete  evidence  on  the  status  of  home  and  factory  industry  at  the  open- 
ing of   the   second   quarter. 

"The  practice  of  special  grants  by  the  Legislature  had  practically  died 
out  by  1826,  to  Avhich  time  (1800-26)  18  academies  had  been  granted 
approximately  $30,000  and  in  lands  ten  whole  lots  and  two  part  lots; 
compiled    from    Senate    Documents,    1837,    no.    32. 


EDUCATIONAL    DEVELOPMENTS    PRIOR    TO    1853  5^ 

the  fair  equivalent  and  a  rival  of  the  college,  which  up  to  this  time 
had  not  developed  along  professional  lines  other  than  medicine. 
Moreover  while  the  colleges  were  still  required  to  report  to  the 
Regents,  support  from  the  State  was  practically  cut  off  while  that 
to  the  academies  had  been  increased  continually.  By  1850  there  were 
approximately  200  reporting  secondary  institutions  in  the  State  with 
nearly  20,000  academic  pupils  or  about  one  to  every  150  inhabitants. 
However,  of  the  various  experimental  or  atypical  institutions 
developing  in  largest  number  from  1826  to  1840,  few  had  survived 
except  the  female  academies.  This  failure  to  keep  fully  abreast 
of  the  newer  educational  demands  meant  a  certain  degree  of  com- 
petition with  the  public  school  system  and  with  the  complete  accept- 
ance of  the  free  school  principle  the  contest  was  bound  soon  to 
favor  the  latter. 

3  The  Lancasterian  or  monitorial  system  from  1895  on,  at  least 
until  1840,  was  adopted  generally  in  the  cities,  and  as  a  quasi-public 
institution  bridged  the  transition  from  charity  and  private  schools  to 
full-fledged  city  systems.  In  a  few  instances,  the  steps  toward 
crowning  these  systems  with  the  tax-supported  high  schools  had  been 
taken  and  in  three  instances  such  schools  had  been  admitted  into 
the  University.^^ 

4  The  common  school  system,  well  organized  by  1820,  extended 
in  numbers  of  districts  and  pupils  through  the  twenties  and  thirties, 
had  in  the  forties  been  moving  forward  until  through  better  super- 
vision, recognition  of  the  advantages  of  taxation,  and  of  consolida- 
tion in  more  densely  populated  centers,  there  were  here  and  there 
in  the  villages  of  the  State  as  well  as  in  the  cities  a  number  of 
schools  which  had  transcended  the  limitations  of  the  early  district 
system.  Through  extended  curriculums,  better  teachers,  and  an 
advanced  public  sentiment  because  of  the  voluntary  activity  of  the 
thirties,  a  generation  was  being  educated  which  considered  the 
public  school  the  best  means  to  advancement  in  all  professions  and 
walks  of  life.  Progressive  leaders  had  long  asked  for  the  provision, 
by  restoration  of  former  offices  and  former  privileges  and  by  estab- 
lishment of  new  features,  of  such  measures  as  would  place  the  New 
York  system  again  in  the  forefront  as  it  was  generally  supposed  to 
have  been  in  the  late  twenties.*'^ 


"  See   tables    6    and    7. 

"  For  a  summary  of  the   recommendations  of  this  period,   see  the   New 
York  Teacher  1852-53,  1:3  72-78,  78-81,  213-15,  351-53. 


52  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

Chapter  2 

Legal  Status  of  the  New  York  High  School  System 
The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York  had  been  created  for 
the  purpose  of  stimulating  and  directing  secondary  and  higher 
education  in  the  academies  and  colleges.  On  the  other  hand  the 
common  school  system  under  the  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  had  not  by  the  middle  of  the  century  been  accepted, 
as  was  the  case  in  New  England  and  the  newer  states  to 
the  west  of  New  York,  as  capable  of  extension  upwards  into  the 
secondary  field.  Consequently  the  first  phase  of  legislative  activity, 
and  a  phase  which  remained  significant  until  about  1870,  was  that 
of  special  legislation  for  individual  localities.  The  unique  feature 
developed  in  the  New  York  plan,  however,  was  the  "  union  free 
school"  with  its  academical  department  (high  school),  and  this 
became  the  bridge  between  the  two  systems  and  ultimately  the  means 
to  their  union.  No  constitutional  provisions  for  education  were 
made  until  1894,  except  to  safeguard  the  various  school  funds  and 
their  use.  In  that  year  the  constitution  made  it  obligatory  upon 
the  Legislature  to  establish  and  maintain  a  system  of  common 
schools,^  this  system  having  by  that  time  expanded  to  include  several 
hundred  high  schools.  No  significant  New  York  State  court 
decision  ever  fully  defined  this  changed  conception  of  the  common 
public  school. 

The  present  chapter  will  treat  of  legislation  and  official  rulings  of 
like  binding  nature,  as  they  determined  the  establishment  and 
development  of  the  system  of  high  schools.  Numerous  details  will 
be  left  for  treatment  in  the  following  chapters  in  connection  with 
the  description  of  the  system. 

/  Special  Legislation  concerning  Individual  Academies  and  High 

Schools 

a  Provisions  for  public  support  and  control  of  certain  academies. 
There  seems  little  doubt  but  that  until  well  toward  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  the  academy  was  regarded  as  providing  the  solu- 
tion of  secondary  education  in  the  State.  Evidence  of  this  fact  is 
found  on  the  one  hand  in  the  local  interest  in  and  hearty  support  of 
this  type  of  school,  and  on  the  other  hand  in  the  views  expressed  in 
the  state  documents  on  education.    With  no  permanent  and  influen- 


*  Constitution    of    New   York,    1894,    art.    IX,    sec.    i. 


LEGAL    STATUS    OF    THE    NEW    YORK    SCHOOL    SYSTEM  53 

tial  Latin  grammar  school  tradition  as  in  New  England,  the  state 
promotion  of  the  academy  was  practically  contemporaneous  with  the 
general  promotion  of  education  in  the  State.  Aside  from  the  general 
laws  designed  to  enable  the  academy  to  serve  various  state  educa- 
tional functions,  numerous  special  acts  were  passed,  by  which 
certain  academies  for  longer  or  shorter  periods  of  time  took  on 
more  completely  the  nature  of  the  public  high  school,  and  in  which 
were  foreshadowed  most  of  the  distinctive  features  of  the  high 
school. 

In  1810  the  custom  of  local  town  taxation  for  the  support  of  the 
academy  was  probably  first  practised,  the  instance  being  that  of 
Washington  Academy  at  Salem  after  the  burning  of  the  academy 
building.-'  Although  this  practice  did  not  at  any  time  become  very 
general,  several  schools  were  allowed  by  legislative  action  in  the 
decade  of  the  thirties  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  town  tax.^  Each 
act  seems  to  have  arisen  out  of  some  such  special  need  as  that  cited 
above  and  to  have  been  a  substitute  for  the  earlier  practice,  now 
largely  discontinued,  of  making  special  state  grants  of  money  or  land 
to  academic  institutions.*  When  the  right  of  the  town  of  Gouver- 
neur  to  levy  taxes  for  the  support  of  the  local  academy  was  called 
in  question  in  1839,  the  report  of  the  committee  on  ways  and  means 
was  unfavorable  on  the  ground  that  the  town  had  no  corporate 
interest  in  and  no  control  over  the  institution,^  but  a  select  com- 
mittee reported  favorably  and  later  the  Legislature  took  action, 
establishing  the  right  of  a  town  to  tax  itself  for  what  were  con- 
sidered its  own  interests.^  With  the  later  increase  in  the  state  appor- 
tionment, the  practice  was  largely  discontinued  except  for  a  sporadic 
cropping  up  in  the  late  fifties  and  following.'^  The  practice  at  this 
period,  as  established  in  1839,  was  that  of  permitting  the  vote  of 
the  local  electorate  on  the  question. 

Following  the  establishment  of  the  common  school  system,  a 
similar  series  of  acts  granting  to  local  academies  privileges  as  regards 
the  districts  and  district  schools  of  their  neighborhoods  is  indicative 
of  the  close  relationship  of  these  institutions  to  the  community  life. 
In  1 814  the  Erasmus  Hall  Academy  was  permitted  to  receive  the 


'  Hough,    op.    cit.,    p.    720. 

'Laws  of  1833,  chap.  249;  1834,  chap.  21;  1835,  chap.  169,  241;  1836, 
chap.  63;   1837,  chap.  151;   1839,  chap.  69;   1841,  chap.  265;   1842,  chap.  281. 

■*  Senate   Jour.,    1825,   p.   677-78. 

'  Assembly    Documents,    1839,    no.    igb. 

'  Assembly  Documents,  1839,  no.  253 ;  Laws  of  1839,  chap.  69. 

'Laws  of  1856,  chap.  119;  1857,  chap.  270,  452;  1867,  chap.  50,  373; 
t868,  chap.  405,  610;  1869,  chap.  424;  1871,  chap.  130. 

5 


54  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

public  school  moneys  of  the  Old  Town  of  Flatbush  on  condition 
that  free  instruction  be  given  the  indigent  children  of  the  district 
and  that  reports  be  made  to  the  school  commissioners  thereon.® 
Within  the  next  decade  acts  were  passed  empowering  the  trustees 
of  three  academies  to  serve  as  the  trustees  of  the  local  districts, 
to  receive  and  disburse  the  school  moneys  and,  upon  vote  of  the 
district,  to  act  as  ex  officio  trustees  of  the  districts.''  Similarly  the 
privilege  was  occasionally  given  of  the  transfer  of  the  property  of 
the  district  school  to  the  trustees  of  the  local  academy.^" 

A  third  type  of  special  legislation  for  academies  indicates  to  what 
extent  the  academy  came  to  be  considered  a  town  or  city  institution. 
\'arious  schools  were  granted  the  privilege  of  building  upon  the 
village  square,  the  academy  building  being  considered  one  of  the 
"  public  buildings. "^^  The  academy  building  was  frequently,  in 
fact  generally,  the  place  of  public  meetings,  in  many  places  the  upper 
story  being  used  for  the  town  hall.^^  From  1833  on,  a  number  of 
acts  of  incorporation  by  the  Legislature  stipulated  that  the  board  of 
trustees  be  made  up  in  part  of  ex  officio  civil  officers,  in  the  case 
of  the  cities,  the  ma}or  and  council.^^  In  the  case  of  Ogdensburg 
Academy,  the  act  of  incorporation  provided  for  a  town  tax  of  $2000 
in  order  to  furnish  a  lot  and  building.  The  town  supervisor,  the 
town  clerk  and  the  clerk  of  the  board  of  village  trustees  were  made 
ex  officio  members  of  the  academy  board  of  trustees  and  the  local 
districts  were  accredited  in  scholarships  with  their  proportionate 
amount  of  taxes  toward  the  academic  education  of  the  children  of 
these  districts.^*  The  Schenectady  Lyceum  and  Academy,  although 
provided  with  no  municipal  aid,  was  required  to  educate  gratui- 
tously in  the  recognized  secondary  branches  one  pupil  from  each 
town,  provided  that  such  pupil  was  a  member  of  the  common  schools 


*Laws    of    1814,    chap.    79;    1844,    chap.    234. 

"Laws  of  1815,  chap.  90  (also  1835,  chap.  138);  1822,  chap.  197;  1823, 
chap.  150.  Respectively  Montgomery,  Farmers  Hall  and  Oysterbay 
Academies. 

"Laws  of  1827,  chap.  15  (1828,  chap.  125);  1830,  chap.  115.  Respec- 
tively Rensselaer  Oswego  Academy  (later  known  as  Mexico  Academy), 
and  Palmyra  High  School.  See  also  the  Troy  Academy,  Laws  of  1834. 
chap.  295. 

"Laws  of  1825,  chap.  260;  1832,  chap.  127,  230.  Respectively  St  Law- 
rence,   Fort    Covington    and    Vernon. 

"See  Utica  Academy;  in  addition  to  serving  as  town  hall,  the  academy 
building  became  the  county  court  house.  Assembly  Documents,  1839,  no.  98. 

"  Laws  of  1834,  chap.  295 ;  1835,  chap.  254  (also  1850,  chap.  49)  ;  1853. 
chap.  33.  Respectively  Troy  Academy,  Rensselaer  Institute,  and  Packer 
Collegiate    Institute. 

"Laws  of  1833,  chap.  249;  1834,  chap.  173;  1835,  chap.  118;  1857,  chap. 
382. 


LEGAL    STATUS    OF    THE    NEW    YORK    SCHOOL    SYSTEM  55 

of  his  town  and  was  certified  by  the  town  inspectors  of  common 
schools. ^^  The  trustees  of  the  .Rochester  Collegiate  Institute  were 
by  statute  required  as  all  district  schools  to  report  annually  to  the 
city  board  of  education.^'' 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  said  that  no  one  of  these  types  of  special 
and  public  functions  of  relationships  became  general  enough  to  be 
of  real  promise  in  changing  the  status  of  the  academy,  although  on 
the  other  hand  the  number  of  institutions  afifected  by  all  types  of 
such  special  legislation  is  quite  large.  After  1840  legislative  inter- 
ference in  the  incorporation  of  secondary  institutions  waned.  About 
the  same  time  the  district  schools  through  growth,  classification  of 
pupils  and  improvements  in  the  quality  of  the  teaching  staff,  were  in 
many  cases  coming  to  rival  the  academy,  so  that  as  would  naturally 
be  expected  the  beginnings  of  public  secondary  education  came 
about  from  them  as  its  source. 

h  Authorization  of  individual  high  schools.  The  source  of  gen- 
eral legislation  permitting  the  establishment  of  public  secondary 
schools  is  not  to  be  found  directly  in  the  granting  of  special  privileges 
to  academies  but  in  the  legislation,  actual  and  proposed,  creating  in 
various  villages  and  cities  union  schools  and  free  academies.  We 
have  already  seen  that  the  early  corporate  "  high  schools  "  had  in  a 
few  cases  been  established  as  common  and  union  schools  under  the 
control  of  district  trustees  and  that  in  particular  the  Rochester  High 
School  had  as  early  as  1827  been  established  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses as  a  public  high  school  on  the  monitorial  plan,  though  it 
speedily  succumbed  to  the  prevailing  tradition  of  private  control  in 
secondary  education. 

Early  in  the  year  1845  there  was  presented  to  the  Senate  a  peti- 
tion from  citizens  of  the  village  of  Avon  in  Livingston  count}-, 
which,  though  unsuccessful,  is  significant  in  that  it  pointed  definitely 
to  later  legislation  and  showed  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  public 
secondary  system.  The  privileges  sought  included  the  consolidation 
of  the  districts  comprising  the  village  and,  in  addition,  the  transfer 
of  the  property  of  the  Avon  Academy  from  the  board  of  trustees 
to  that  of  the  district  trustees  of  the  proposed  union  district  for 
the  sum  of  $1200  with  the  right  to  continue  secondary  or  classical 
instruction  under  the  visitation  of  the  Regents.  Such  a  bill  was 
favorably  reported  by  the  literature  committee  and  later  by  a  select 
committee   of   senators   comprising  the   representatives   from   that 


"Laws  of  1837,  chap.  95. 
"Laws    of    1844,    chap.    145. 


56  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

senate  district,  but  after  being  engrossed  for  a  third  reading  was 
referred  to  the  Board  of  Regents.^'  This  body  in  a  written  report 
which  was  accepted  by  the  Senate  found  the  proposed  bill  unaccept- 
able, as  it  would  establish  the  following  precedents  as  regards  the 
state's  educational  policy:^® 

1  The  union  of  the  common  and  academic  systems  with  conse- 
quent twofold  visitation  and  inspection. 

2  The  granting  of  common  school  moneys  and  the  income  of  the 
literature  fund  to  the  same  institution,  thus  opening  the  way  for 
duplicate  returns  of  pupils. 

3  The  lowering  of  the  minimum  of  the  required  valuation  of  the 
property,  real  and  personal,  of  the  institutions  within  the  University 
which  at  that  time  stood  at  $2500. 

The  report  further  included  a  defense  of  the  practice  of  granting 
state  aid  to  the  academies  and  of  the  conduct  of  those  who  through 
the  payment  of  taxes  contributed  largely  to  the  support  of  the  com- 
mon schools  and  yet  sent  their  children  to  the  academies. 

In  the  same  year  a  petition  from  the  trustees  of  the  Clarkson 
Academy  asked  for  the  dissolution  of  that  corporation  with  the  right 
to  return  to  the  stockholders  the  money  derived  from  the  sale  of 
the  property,  on  the  ground  that  a  rival  institution  was  drawing  the 
students. ^°  The  minutes  of  the  Regents  record  a  verbal  statement 
from  the  same  source  to  the  effect  that  it  was  planned  to  establish 
a  high  school  in  connection  with  the  district  school  in  the  place  of 
the  academy,  a  step  which  was  legalized  in  1859.  This  petition 
evoked  no  action  at  the  lime  other  than  the  decision  of  the  Regents 
that  they  did  not  possess  the  power  to  dissolve  the  corporation,  and 
that  the  stockholders  might  dispose  of  their  permanent  fund,  if 
deemed  advisable. 

Two  years  later  a  similar  request  from  inhabitants  of  Fayette- 
ville,  Onondaga  county,  was  sent  to  Mr  Hawley,  secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Regents.  While  it  was  also  refused,  note  was  made  of 
the  fact  that  the  desire  was  increasing  "  in  several  of  the  villages 
of  the  State,  to  unite  their  school  districts  and  academies  "  and  a 
resolution  was  passed  appointing  a  committee,  which  seems  not  to 
have  reported,  to  "  inquire  whether  such  proposed  unions  may  not 
be  legalized  under  a  general  enactment  without  impairing  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  present  common  school  and  academic  organizations."  ^'^ 


"  Senate  Jour.,   1845,  p.  222,  259,  404,  412,  418,  421,  443,  477,   554.  599- 
"Senate   Documents,    1845,   no.    105;   also   Regents   Minutes    (MSS),  v.   5, 
p.  72-74. 
"Regents   Minutes    (MSS),  v.  5,  P-  58-59- 
"  Regents  Minutes  (MSS),  v.  5,  p.  188-89. 


LEGAL    STATUS    OF    THE    NE\V    YORK    SCHOOL   SYSTEM  57 

In  1S49  the  request  was  renewed  and  this  time  it  was  referred  (as 
also  was  the  Avon  petition)  to  the  Secretary  of  State  in  his  official 
capacity  of  adjudicator  of  common  school  controversies  and  also 
as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Regents.  His  decision  was  to  the  effect 
that  the  academy  trustees  could  not  sell  a  part  of  their  building  to 
the  trustees  of  the  proposed  union  school  but  could  lease  it  in  whole 
or  in  part.-^  He  left  unsettled  the  advisability  and  legality  of  the 
union  of  the  elementary  common  schools  with  neighboring  academies. 

In  1847  the  Assembly  committee  on  colleges,  academies  and  com- 
mon schools  reported  that  numerous  petitions  had  been  received 
requesting  the  establishment  of  union  schools,  and  expressed  a 
favorable  opinion  as  to  this  type  of  school  organization.-^  In  the 
same  }'ear  the  high  school  movement  may  be  said  to  have  been 
definitely  started  with  the  establishment  by  special  acts  of  the  Lock- 
port  Union  School  and  the  New  York  (City)  Free  Academy.-^ 
These  institutions  were  the  result  of  progressive  local  sentiment, 
which  was  expressed  in  petitions  to  the  Senate.^* 

In  the  Lockport  act,  provision  w'as  made  for  the  creation  of  a 
school  board  consisting  of  one  trustee  from  each  of  the  existing 
seven  districts,  which  by  this  act  became  primary  districts  with  free 
tuition,  together  with  five  other  members  representing  the  union 
district  as  a  whole.  The  act  differed  from  numerous  similar  acts 
of  the  decade  previous  in  that  it  empowered  the  board  of  the  "  union 
school  district  of  Lockport  "  to  organize  a  "  union  school  "  for  the 
older  pupils,  which  w^as  to  be  supported  in  part  by  tuition  and  in 
part  by  taxation.  The  New  York  act  created  a  special  executive 
committee  of  the  board  of  education  w^hich  had  been  organized  in 
1842.  This  committee  was  to  act  in  behalf  of  the  board  in  all  matters 
relative  to  the  maintenance  and  administration  of  the  free  academy. 
Furthermore,  on  the  basis  of  an  annual  report,  the  details  of  which 
were  specified,  the  academy  was  to  share  in  the  distribution  of  the 
literature  fund  income.  In  1850  a  supplementary  act  was  passed, 
renewing  the  right  of  the  Lockport  board  of  education  to  collect 
tuition  fees  from  the  pupils  of  the  union  school  and  also  placing  the 
school  under  the  visitation  of  the  Regents.  The  establishment  and 
early  history  of  these  two  institutions  will  be  traced  briefly  in  the 
succeeding  chapter. 


"Regents  Minutes   (MSS),  v.  5,  p.  357,  361. 

"  Rep't  of  the  com.  on  cx>lleges,  academies  and  common  schools,  p.  7-8. 
"Laws  of  1847,  respectively  chap.  51,  206. 

^  See  Senate  and  Assembly  Jour.,  1847,  for  the  history  of  these  acts  before 
the  Legislature   (consult  index). 


58 


THE    XEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


No  similar  acts  were  passed  in  the  following  year  but  in  the  five 
years  1849  to  1853  inclusive,  eight  other  cities  and  villages  were 
granted  the  special  privilege  of  making  provision  through  their 
boards  of  education  for  public  secondary  school  facilities.  Reference 
to  table  7  will  indicate  the  fact  that  these  facilities  were  provided  in 
two  different  ways,  either  through  the  amalgamation  with  the  com- 
mon school  system  of  the  local  academy,  as  in  Fort  Covington,  Salem 
and  Utica,  or  through  the  establishment  of  a  higher  department 
of  the  common  schools  designated  as  the  case  might  be  academy, 
high  school,  classical  school  or  central  school. 

Table  7 

Analysis  of  special  laws  creating  public  secondary  schools  antecedent 
to  the  union  free  school  act  of  1853 


NAME  OF  SCHOOL 


ENABLING   ACT 

SUPPORT 

L. 

1847. 

ch. 

SI 

Taxes  and 
tuition 

L. 

1847. 

ch. 

206 

Taxes 

L. 

1850, 

ch. 

321 

Taxes  and 
tuition 

L. 

i8si. 

ch. 

171 

Taxes 

L. 

1851, 

ch. 

206 

Taxes  and 
tuition 

L. 

I8S3 

ch. 

ISS 

Taxes  and 
tuition 

L. 

i8S3. 

ch. 

230 

Taxes 

L. 

1853 

ch. 

252 

Taxes 

L. 

i8S3 

ch 

272 

Taxes 

L. 

1853 

ch 

30s 

Taxes 

REMARKS  AND   SPECIAL  FEATURES 


Lockport  Union  School . .  . 
New  York  Free  Academy. 
Medina  Academy 


Williamsburg   (academy  or 

high  school) 
Washington  .\cademy 

(Salem) 


Fort  Covington  Academy . . 
Buffalo  Central  School 

Geneva  Union  School 

Utica  Academy 

Pulaski  Academy 


L.  1850,  ch.  77,  forbade  the  use  of 
taxes  in  payment  of  teachers'  sal- 
aries 

L.  1851,  ch.  386,  limited  the  literature 
fund  allotment  to  purchase  of 
library  books 

L.  1849,  ch.  286,  had  created  a  board 
of  education  for  the  village  joint 
school  district 

Consolidated  with  Brooklyn,  i8ss 

L.  1851,  ch.  206,  provided  like  Lock- 
port  act  for  consolidation  of  dis- 
tricts; permitted  board  to  lease 
academy  building 

L.  i8s3,  ch.  ISS,  permitted  transfer 
of  property  of  board  of  trustees  of 
the  old  Fort  Covington  Academy 

L.  1853,  ch.  230,  revising  the  city 
charter  provided  that  in  the  central 
school  be  taught  the  "  higher 
branches  of  English  education, 
authorized  by  the  common  school 
law  " 

L.  1853,  ch.  252,  was  the  culmination 
of  a  series  of  acts  granting  special 
privileges  to  school  district  i  in 
the  town  of  Seneca 

L.  1853,  ch.  272,  created  the  academy 
one  of  the  common  schools  under 
the  existing  board  of  school  com- 
missioners 

L.  I8S3,  ch.  30s,  consolidated  schools 
of  village 


In  Geneva,  which  had  had  a  union  school  since  1839,  no  board  of 
education  was  specifically  created  but  the  school  trustees  were 
granted  equivalent  powers.  In  all  except  Buffalo  and  Williams- 
burg, which  schools  were  not  organized  as  a  result  of  these  acts,  the 
provision  was  made  that  the  newly  constituted  public  high  school 


LEGAL    STATUS    OF   THE    NEW    YORK    SCHOOL   SYSTEM  59 

remain  or  become  subject  to  the  Regents  ordinances  and  upon  meet- 
ing their  requirements  be  entitled  to  share  in  the  distribution  of  the 
income  of  the  Hterature  fund.  Three  of  these  schools  were  by  1853 
regularly  participating  in  the  privileges  of  the  University,  Lock- 
port,  New  York  and  Medina,'^  in  addition  to  Utica  and  Washington 
which  had  remained  under  visitation. 

Even  after  the  general  union  free  school  act  of  1853  (see  the 
following  section),  the  practice  of  special  legislation  was  continued 
so  that  in  the  first  decade,  that  is  from  1853  to  1864,  twenty-three 
such  acts  of  establishment  of  individual  schools  were  passed,  and 
by  1870  a  total  of  thirty-seven.  Of  these,  fourteen  provided  for 
the  transfer  of  existing  local  academies.  The  causes  of  this  con- 
tinued demand  for  special  legislative  interference  may  be  found  on 
the  one  hand  in  the  desires  of  trustees  of  the  academies  to  guarantee 
the  use  of  the  academy  property  and  endowments  to  the  cause  of 
secondary  education  and  in  a  number  of  cases  to  retain  a  degree  of 
control  in  the  future  administration  of  the  school,  ***  and,  on  the  part 
of  the  boards  of  education,  to  ensure  a  permanent  legal  establish- 
ment of  the  new  venture  at  a  time  when  many  interests  were  hostile 
to  public  higher  education  or  to  secure  special  rights  not  granted 
in  the  general  law.-' 

After  1870,  although  there  continued  to  be  many  special  acts  for 
various  educational  needs  of  a  local  nature  including  numerous 
legalizations  of  transfers  of  academy  property,  enabling  acts  are 
seldom  found,  except  that  in  the  later  city  charters,  following  a 
practice  begun  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  century,  boards  of  edu- 
cation were  given  among  other  duties  those  of  providing  and  main- 
taining high  schools  subject  to  the  need  and  demand  therefore.-* 
An  interesting  illustration  of  the  persistence  of  a  practice  once  begun 
is  seen  in  the  acts  which  enabled  Brooklyn  and  New  York  cities  in 
the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century,  to  create  and  finance  high 
schools,  nearly  a  half  century  after  the  high  school  movement 
began.^^ 


"^  Regents  Minutes   (MSS),  v.  5,  p.  335,  360,  425,  484- 

""Laws  of  1857,  chap.  382;  1858,  chap.  370  (1867,  chap.  7)  ;  1864,  chap.  40, 
318;   1865,  chap.  520. 

''Laws  of  1855,  chap.  550  (1856,  chap.  129);  1857,  chap.  387  (1870,  chap. 
306)  ;  1863,  chap.  69;  1864,  chap.  401. 

"Laws  of  1895,  chap.  568;  1905,  chap.  273;  1908,  chap.  458. 

"Laws  of  1893,  chap.  26;  1896,  chap.  387;  1897,  chap.  412,  502. 


6o  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

2  Legislation  concerning  Union  (Free)  Schools 

a  Union  school  act  of  i8jj.  Having  seen  the  interest  from  1840 
on  in  the  estabHshment  of  union  schools,  and  in  the  foregoing  sec- 
tion the  beginnings  of  the  development  of  public  secondary  facilities 
in  a  few  localities,  it  becomes  the  purpose  of  this  section  to  note  the 
essential  features  of  the  act  "  for  the  establishment  of  union  free 
schools  "  passed  June  8,  1853.^°  This  measure  was  the  natural 
culmination  of  the  above-mentioned  movements  (see  table  7),  but 
was  the  more  direct  outcome  of  numerous  petitions  presented  to  the 
Senate  in  1852  and  1853.  In  the  former  year  there  was  received  a 
request  from  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Warsaw  Union  School 
praying  for  an  appropriation  from  the  income  of  the  literature 
fund.^^  In  the  same  session,  the  committee  on  literature  asked  for 
and  received  an  extension  of  time  until  the  next  session  to  report 
on  sundry  general  bills,  among  which  was  a  petition  concerning  union 
schools.^-  Early  in  the  session  of  1853  a  bill  was  introduced,  among 
numerous  similar  bills,  which  provided  for  incorporation  or  relief 
renewing  the  request  from  Warsaw.  This  was  referred  to  the  com- 
mittee on  literature  and  as  a  result  relief  acts  were  passed  for  War- 
saw and  Sherburne,  and  the  general  act,  granting  an  extension  of 
the  privilege  of  establishing  academical  departments  in  union  schools, 
received  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Senate  April  8th.  Two  months 
later  it  was  passed  by  the  Assembly  by  a  vote  of  69  to  21.^^ 

Apart  from  the  general  significance  of  this  act  in  stimulating  the 
consolidation  of  schools  and  placing  them  under  the  type  of  control 
which  had  been  worked  out  effectively  in  the  larger  and  more  pro- 
gressive cities  and  villages,  this  unique  law  which  was  entirely  per- 
missive in  its  nature  made  the  following  important  provisions,  each 
of  which  was  based  upon  the  special  acts  of  the  last  decade 
preceding : 

1  That  the  legal  voters  of  a  district  or  two  or  more  contiguous 
districts  might,  under  definite  restrictions,  create  in  special  meeting 
a  board  of  education. 

2  That  these  boards  should  be  considered  corporate  bodies  with 
the  obligation  of  the  annual  preparation  of  a  school  budget  to  be 
submitted  in  incorporated  villages  and  cities  to  the  municipal  authori- 
ties and  in  other  districts  to  the  voters.^* 


"Laws  of  1853,  chap.  433. 
"Senate  Jour.,  1852,  p.  252. 
"Op.  cit.,  p.  649. 

"Senate   and   Assembly  Jour.,    1853    (consult   index). 

'^  The  district  was  much  earlier  considered  a  "legal  corporation";  see  Sup't 
Rep't,   1839,  p.   18. 


LEGAL    STATUS    OF    THE    NEW    YORK    SCHOOL    SYSTEM  6l 

3  That  these  boards  of  education  in  addition  to  other  defined 
powers  might  (c)  estabhsh  in  the  union  school  an  "  academical  de- 
partment "  with  full  powers  in  the  matter  of  tuition,  transfers  of 
pupils,  texts  and  supplies,  or  (b)  arrange  with  the  trustees  of  a 
local  academy,  upon  their  unanimous  vote,  to  take  over  such  school 
and  become  trustees  of  it  as  the  "  academical  department." 

4  That  such  departments  should  be  subject  to  the  visitation  and 
control  of  the  Regents  as  far  as  regards  the  course  of  study,  and  the 
qualifications  of  entering  pupils,  but  not  in  regard  to  the  building 
except  in  instances  where  the  lower  common  schools  were  kept  in 
separate  buildings. 

5  That  existing  special  laws  were  not  to  be  interfered  with  by  this 
act  but  that  union  schools  established  under  the  general  act  were  to 
come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  state  common  school  department 
to  the  extent  that  a  copy  of  the  call  and  minutes  of  the  organization 
meeting  be  filed  with  the  State  Superintendent  and  that  no  school 
was  to  lose  its  quota  of  apportionment  for  a  period  of  five  years  as  a 
result  of  consolidation. 

6  That  the  academical  departments  were  to  "  enjoy  all  the 
immunities  and  privileges  now  enjoyed  by  the  academies,"  the  money 
from  the  literature  and  other  funds  to  be  appropriated  with  that 
fiom  the  common  school  fund  to  their  proper  uses  in  the  two  depart- 
ments. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  net  result  of  this  act  so  far  as  it 
concerns  us  here  was  the  permission  given  now  to  corporate  boards 
of  education,  which  was  formerly  given  only  to  boards  of  trustees 
of  academies,  to  establish  academical  departments  which  wxre,  in 
the  accepted  terminology  in  other  states,  high  schools.  These  were 
not  to  supplant  but  to  supplement  the  academy  system,  which  had 
been  established  nearly  seventy  years  previously. ^^  For  admission 
to  University  privileges  these  new  departments  or  schools  had  to 
conform,  as  had  the  few  established  by  special  acts  from  1847  to 
1853,  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Regents.  Reference  will  later  be  made 
to  the  requirements  of  the  Board.  Inadequacies  were  early  dis- 
covered in  the  law  and  discussed  fully  in  the  annual  reports  of  the 
Superintendent.^^ 

No  important  change  was  made  until  the  recodification  of  1864. 
It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  there  was  passed  in  1862  the  fol- 
lowing act : 

Any  union  school  in  this  State  duly  organized  according  to  law,  by  com- 
plying with  the  requirements  of  the  "  Regents  of  the  University "  shall  be 
entitled   to   all  the  benefits  and   privileges   of   the   academics   in   this   State.^^ 


"  A  discussion  of  terminologj'  is  reserved  for  the  next  chapter. 
'^Sup't  Rep'ts.  1856,  p.  19-20;  1861,  p.  15. 
"  Laws  of  1862,  chap.  450. 


62  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

This  act  appears  unnecessary  except  as  a  means  of  giving  a  degree 
of  confidence  to  local  school  authorities  contemplating  coming  under 
the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1853.  That  there  was  a  lack  of  clear 
interpretation  and  comprehension  of  that  act  is  seen,  first  because 
there  appear  to  have  been  but  25  schools  organized  on  the  union 
school  plan  in  the  first  two  and  a  half  years  after  the  passage  of  the 
act  and  second  because  of  some  30  high  schools  received  by  the 
Regents  from  1853  to  1862,  over  80  per  cent  were  created  by  special 
legislation. 

b  The  Consolidated  School  Law  of  1864  and  its  later  revisions 
with  reference  to  union  free  schools.  By  "  an  act  to  revise  and  con- 
solidate the  general  acts  relating  to  public  instruction,"  passed  May  2, 
1864,^^  a  thoroughgoing  revision  of  the  union  free  school  act  of  1853 
was  made  in  title  9,  which  expanded  the  original  19  sections  into  27. 
All  later  acts  referring  to  union  schools  are  either  supplements  or 
amendments  of  this  title.  Moreover  all  sections  were  made  to  apply 
to  schools  established  under  the  act  of  1853.  The  more  important 
changes  afifecting  directly  the  status  of  union  schools  in  relation  to 
our  problem  were : 

1  That  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  (which  office 
was  created  in  1854)  was  empowered  (a)  to  call,  or  empower  some 
one  to  call,  meetings  for  the  organization  of  union  schools,  (&)  to 
have  under  visitation  "  every  union  free  school  district  in  all  its 
departments,"  together  with  the  supervision  of  the  boards  of  educa- 
tion, (c)  to  require  in  addition  to  stipulated  annual  reports  such 
special  reports  as  he  deemed  necessary  and  {d)  to  interpret  certain 
features  of  the  law. 

2  That  money  for  teachers'  wages  in  all  departments  should  be 
raised  by  tax  and  not  by  rate  bill. 

3  That  the  academical  departments  established  in  union  schools 
place  their  entrance  requirements,  "  as  high  as  those  established  by 
the  .  .  .  Regents  for  participation  in  the  literature  fund  of  any 
academy." 

4  That  the  powers  of  boards  of  education  in  districts  in  unincor- 
porated villages  be  so  extended  that  they  might  vote  taxes  for 
"  teachers'  wages  and  the  ordinary  contingent  expenses  "  in  case  the 
voters  failed  or  refused  to  do  so. 

Minor  revisions  of  the  law  regarding  union  schools  were  made 
in  1863,  1865,  1875  and  1879  and  almost  yearly  thereafter,  most  of 
which  looked  toward  the  encouragement  of  the  organization  of  these 
schools  through  greater  ease  of  establishment  or  to  the  more  efficient 
administration  without  particular  reference  to  the  academical  depart- 


""Laws  of  1864,  chap.  555. 


LEGAL  STATUS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  SCHOOL  SYSTEM      63 

ments.^"  Previous  to  1880  one  of  the  hindrances  toward  the  more 
rapid  organization  of  union  schools  had  been  the  uncertainty  as  to 
the  right  of  a  district  once  formed  to  dissolve  into  its  original  sep- 
arate districts.  In  a  few  instances  special  enactments  were  passed 
providing  either  for  the  dissolution  of  these  districts  upon  vote  of 
the  qualified  electors  or  directly  dissolving  them.^°  The  Attorney 
General  having  ruled  in  1879  that  an  academy  once  adopted  as  an 
academical  department  could  not  he  restored  to  its  former  status 
without  a  special  enabling  act,*^  provision  was  made  by  an  act  of 
1880  that  such  districts  could  be  dissolved  by  a  majority  vote  at 
regular  or  special  meetings  of  the  electorate  and  that  upon  applica- 
tion of  a  majority  of  the  resident  trustees  or  stockholders  of  the 
academy  its  property  might  be  restored  to  them.^-  In  1875  there  was 
passed  an  act  requiring  that  cities  and  union  free  school  districts  es- 
tablish free  instruction  in  "  industrial  or  free  hand  drawing,"*^  and 
although  the  act  did  not  contemplate  in  all  likelihood  the  extension  of 
this  work  into  the  high  schools,  it  laid  the  basis  for  such  extension  of 
industrial  and  trade  schools  in  the  first  decade  of  the  next  century.** 
In  the  first  general  revision  and  consolidation  act  since  1864,  namely 
that  of  1894,  no  significant  change  was  made  in  the  union  free  school 
type  of  organization  but  the  boards  of  education  of  such  districts 
were  given  the  privilege  of  leasing  academy  property  for  the  use  of 
academical  departments.*^ 

In  the  later  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  early  years  of  the 
twentieth,  the  practice  of  special  legislation  for  union  schools  was 
resumed.  The  acts  in  general  were  of  two  types  :  ( i )  placing  union 
schools  formerly  created  by  special  act  under  the  general  law  in  some 
or  all  particulars,**^  or  (2)  confirming  and  legalizing  the  acts  of  local 
boards,  which  due  to  the  frequent  changes  in  the  legal  details  of 
organization  and  administration  of  these  schools,  were  often  at 
variance  with  the  law.*^ 


'"Laws  o£  1863,  chap.  378,  sec.  8;  1865,  chap.  647,  sec.  15-17;  1875,  chap. 
482,  sec.  28;  1876,  chap.  50;  1879,  chap.  134;  1883,  chap.  413,  sec.  10-16; 
1884,  chap.  49,  sec.  3;  1885,  chap.  340;  1886,  chap.  595;  1888,  chap.  27,  331; 
1880,   chap.   90. 

*'Laws  of  1872,  chap.  262;  1873,  chap.  404. 

"Quoted  in  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  423-24;  cf.  School  Bulletin  (1880),  6:68-69. 

^'Laws  of  1880,  chap.  210. 

"  Laws  of  1875,  chap.  322;  also  Laws  of  1887,  chap.  540;  1888,  chap.  334;  cf. 
Sup't  Rep't  1876.  p.  iiS-17- 

**Laws  of  1908,  chap.  263. 

"Laws  of  1894,  chap.  556,  sec.  27. 

^Laws  of  1887,  chap.  624;  1895,  chap.  364;  1907,  chap.  459;  1913,  chap.  427. 

"  Laws  of  1901,  chap.  25 ;   1904,  chap.  255. 


64  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

Following  the  more  efficient  working  of  the  system  under  the 
unification  act  of  1904,  and  with  the  growing  disfavor  in  which 
special  legislation  was  held,  there  were  passed  in  1909  and  1910 
complete  revisions  of  the  school  code,  which  for  the  first  time  made 
the  union  school  act  an  organic  part  of  the  general  law.*^  The  sec- 
tions were  now  distributed  under  the  appropriate  heads  of  districts, 
boards  of  education,  school  moneys,  etc.,  the  original  powers  were 
retained  and  the  district  supervisors  were  empowered  to  create  and 
alter  union  free  school  districts.  An  amendment  of  1914  marked  a 
step  forward  by  providing  for  the  establishment  of  central  rural 
schools  or  districts  with  high  school  departments  and  giving  courses 
in  agriculture,  the  State  Commissioner  of  Education  to  have  the 
power  to  determine  the  boundaries  and  the  site  of  the  building.*^ 
With  the  realization  of  the  inadequacies  of  the  old  district  system, 
agitation  for  the  township  unit  of  administration  was  begun  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  and  was  vigorously  taken  up  by  the  State 
Teachers  Association,  the  Association  of  School  Commissioners  and 
the  Council  of  City  Superintendents,  in  the  effort  to  procure  legisla- 
tion.^** In  one  form  or  another  the  plan  was  generally  favored  by 
most  of  the  state  superintendents  as  the  means  to  the  better  equaliza- 
tion both  of  educational  opportunities  and  of  the  burden  of  sup- 
port.^^  No  action  was  taken  until  191 7,  since  the  uniqueness  of  the 
union  free  school  law  commended  itself  so  strongly  to  those  directing 
the  educational  policies  of  the  State. 

J  The  University  and  its  Control  of  High  Schools 

a  The  University  Acts  of  i88g  and  1892  and  the  Unification  Act 
of  1904.  Meanwhile  there  was  enacted  into  law  in  1889  a  general 
revision  and  consolidation  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  University 
which,  with  the  complete  revision  in  1892,^-  reestablished  the  power 
of  incorporations  and  charter  over  all  the  higher  educational  insti- 
tutions, defined  academies  to  include  high  schools,  and  academical 
departments,  and  gave  a  new  formulation  of  the  rights  of  the 
Board  of  Regents  to  provide  for  inspection  and  to  require  reports 
of  institutions  which  were  members  of  the  University  as  requisite  to 
their  continued  enjoyment  of  University  privileges.     The  conflict  of 


*'Laws  of  1910,  chap.  140  (Consol.  Laws,  chap.  16). 
*'  Laws  of  1914,  chap.  55. 

•■'School  Bulletin,  271;  4:19,  68,  97-112;  5:38,  54-55;  6:55, 
'■'  Sup't   Rcp't.    1877.  p.  34-35.     Cf.  Letter  of   Com'r  Finley  to  the  Legis- 
lature, April   15,  1915. 

"Laws  of  1889,  chap.  529;  1892,  chap.  378. 


LEGAL    STATUS    OF   THE    NEW    YORK    SCHOOL    SYSTEM  65 

authority  over  the  academical  departments,  which  was  made  possible 
by  the  union  free  school  section  of  the  consolidated  law  of  1864  and 
which  had  been  made  the  excuse  for  an  effort  to  abolish  the  Univer- 
sity in  1870,^^  now  widened.  Unification  of  the  two  state  depart- 
ments having  failed  in  1889  and  1900,^*  it  was  again  sought  by  both 
departments  in  1903,  resulting  in  the  unification  act  of  1904.^^ 

The  more  immediate  causes  of  friction  were  to  be  found  in  three 
laws  which  modified  and  limited  the  Regents'  supervision  of  sec- 
ondary schools,  and  whose  relevancy  to  our  problem  is  such  that  they 
must  be  noted  here: 

1  Chapter  1031  of  the  Laws  of  1895,  which  empowered  the  State 
Superintendent  to  supervise  the  courses  of  study  in  high  schools,  giv- 
ing teacher-training  courses. 

2  Chapter  325  of  the  Laws  of  1902,  which  made  the  adoption  of 
an  academy  by  a  union  school  subject  to  the  joint  approval  of  the 
State  Superintendent  and  the  Chancellor  of  the  University. 

3  Chapter  542  of  the  Laws  of  1903,  which  provided  the  sum  of 
$100,000  for  distribution  to  high  school  pupils  living  in  districts  not 
having  such  schools,  said  distribution  to  be  left  to  the  joint  certifi- 
cation of  the  Superintendent  and  the  Chancellor  but  which  was 
claimed  by  the  Superintendent  and  by  him  for  the  advantage  of 
public  high  schools  only. 

The  Unification  Act  placed  the  number  of  Regents  at  eleven 
and  made  the  office  elective  by  the  Legislature,  each  for 
term  of  11  years,  and  made  the  Commissioner  of  Education, 
successor  to  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  the 
executive  officer  of  the  Board  combining  the  duties  of  the  office 
of  Superintendent  as  regards  the  "  general  supervision  of  all  the 
educational  institutions  of  the  State."  The  initiation  of  the  act 
under  happy  auspices  led  to  complete  harmony  where  there  had  long 
been  conflict  with  great  resulting  advantages,  particularly  for  sec- 
ondary education.  The  annual  appropriation  act  of  the  following 
year  fixed  a  precedent  established  in  1887  concerning  the  applica- 
tion of  moneys  to  the  academies  and  high  schools,  whereby  the  sum 
to  which  the  former  were  now  entitled  was  limited.^^ 


"Sup't  Rep't,  1870,  p.  59-74-  Special  Rep't  of  the  Regents,  Senate  Docu- 
ments, 1870,  no.  82;  cf.  Governors  Messages,  Senate  Documents,  1886,  no. 
2,  p.  22-24;  1888,  no.  2,  p.  6. 

**  For  attempt  at  settlement  of  the  question  in  1900,  see  Assembly  Docu- 
ments, no.  17. 

"Laws  of  1904,  chap.  40.  For  a  history  of  the  controversy  see  the  some- 
what prejudiced  account  in  Sup't  Rep't,  1904,  p.  xxx-li,  and  102-5.  The 
complete  account  of  the  final  adjudication  of  the  matter  which  gave  oppor- 
tunity for  the  hearing  of  both  sides  and  resulted  in  the  bill  of  1904  is  given 
in  the  final  report  of  the  special  joint  committee  on  educational  unification, 
Senate  Documents,  1904,  no.  25. 

"'Laws  of  1905,  chap.  699;  cf.  Laws  of  1887,  chap.  709. 

3 


66  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    TITGII    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

b  Regents  ordinances.  The  University  Act  of  1787  had  em- 
powered the  Regents  to  make  such  by-laws  and  ordinances  as  were 
essential  to  the  administration  of  their  duties  and  with  the  opening 
of  the  following  century  they  began  the  practice  of  sending  out 
"  circulars  of  instructions  "  to  the  academies  and  colleges  under 
their  visitation.  The  earlier  instructions  had  principally  to  do 
with  the  two  matters  of  the  requirements  for  admission  to  the  Uni- 
versity, or  incorporation  as  it  was  known,  and  with  the  prescription 
of  detailed  reports  as  a  basis  for  the  distribution  of  the  income  of 
the  literature  fund  and  state  appropriations.  With  enlarged  funds 
and  additional  powers  granted  from  time  to  time  by  the  Legislature, 
the  circulars  were  continued  but  the  practice  was  begun  in  1828  of 
combining  the  existing  ordinances  into  "  Regents  Instructions."^^ 
Thereafter  the  ordinances  were  published  in  book  form  and  known 
as  University  Manuals,^^  and  included  detailed  requirements  and 
interpretations  of  the  rather  meager  body  of  law  under  which  the 
Regents  operated.  The  manual  of  1888,  for  example,  had  been  ex- 
tended to  cover  as  its  main  topics,  incorporation  of  academies,  dis- 
tribution of  the  literature  fund,  academic  examinations,  and  books 
and  apparatus.  The  special  significance  of  these  various  ordinances 
will  be  seen  in  the  chapters  following,  it  being  necessary  to  note  here 
only  that  the  Regents  had  become,  by  the  time  the  high  school  move- 
ment was  begun,  a  definite  legislative  body.  It  was  this  feature  of 
the  Board's  work  that  gave  rise  to  the  remarkable  developments  of 
the  last  quarter  century  before  unification  and  which  was  reserved  as 
its  distinctive  work  after  unification.  Two  important  illustrations  of 
the  exercise  of  this  power,  because  of  their  bearing  upon  the  later 
developments  of  the  high  school  movement,  are  the  following:  (i) 
the  establishment  in  1863  of  the  University  Convocation,  a  joint 
gathering  of  representatives  of  the  Regents,  the  academies  and  the 
colleges  whose  purposes  included  the  effort  to  promote  the  "  har- 
monious workings  of  the  state  system  of  education,"  and  to  influence 
the  people  and  Legislature  in  the  direction  of  larger  support  to  sec- 
ondary education,^''  and  (2)  the  organization  of  the  University  in 
1898  into  various  departments  including  those  of  the  high  school  and 
colleges,  perpetuated  under  the  present  administration  of  the  state 
system. 


"  Regents  Instructions  of  1834,  1845,  1849,  1853. 
"University  Manuals,  1864,   1870,  1882,   1888. 

"University   Convocation   Proceedings,    in    Regents   Rep't,    1864,    flF.    p.   316. 
Also  Ordinance  of  the  Regents  of  April  11,  1879,  in  Regents  Rep't,  1880,  p.  470. 


LEGAL    STATUS    OF    THE    NEW    YORK    SCHOOL   SYSTEM  6/ 

Summary  and  Conclusions 

The  high  school  in  New  York  in  contrast  with  that  of  New  Eng- 
land, as  typified  in  Massachusetts/"  did  not  at  the  outset  attain  a 
place  in  the  state  system  by  general  legislation.  First,  a  considerable 
period  passed  during  which  special  privileges  were  granted  indi- 
vidual academies  in  addition  to  the  general  quasi-public  functions. 
This  was  followed  by  a  decade  in  which  many  special  acts  were 
passed  establishing  union  schools  and  higher  departments  in  city 
and  village  systems.  In  1853  the  general  permissive  act  organizing 
high  schools,  known  as  academical  departments,  was  passed.  All 
later  legislation  retained  this  special  terminology  and  the  permissive 
feature  which  was  in  direct  contrast  with  the  Massachusetts  practice. 

The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  which  for  seventy 
years  had  had  as  its  principal  activity  the  guardianship  of  secondary 
education  in  the  academics,  was  naturally  made  sponsor  for  the  new 
type  of  secondary  school.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  each  public  high 
school  was  a  part  of  some  local  common  school  system  out  of  which 
it  had  developed  and  therefore  of  the  state  common  school  system,  an 
increasing  amount  of  dual  control  of  the  two  state  systems  brought 
about  a  corresponding  amount  of  friction.  The  half  century  of 
struggle  was  fortunately  ended  by  the  Unification  Act  of  1904  and 
since  that  time  the  secondary  and  elementary  interests  in  New  York 
have  been  more  closely  related.  There  has  been  therewith  a  cessa- 
tion of  attacks  upon  the  secondary  school  and  consequent  increase  in 
state  aid  and  state  supervision  of  this  branch  of  the  school  system. 


Inglis,  op.  cit.,  p.  24-35. 


68  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


Chapter  3 

Establishment  and  Admission  of  High  Schools 

/  Terminology  in  Use  in  New  York 

The  term  "  high  school  "  had  come  into  use  in  New  York  at  about 
the  time  of  the  founding  of  the  English  High  School  of  Boston 
(1821)  to  designate  monitorial  schools  of  academic  or  partially 
academic  rank.  We  found  that  these  schools  were  favorably  con- 
sidered at  one  time  as  the  means  to  a  state  system  of  secondary  pub- 
lic or  quasi-public  schools  for  the  purposes  of  preparing  teachers 
and  of  providing  scientific  training,  but  that  they  were  rapidly 
absorbed  into  either  the  common  school  or  academy  systems,  in  most 
cases  with  a  change  of  name.  In  1838,  the  same  year  in  which  there 
was  passed  in  Massachusetts  a  union  school  law/  the  education  com- 
mittee of  the  New  York  Assembly  in  a  progressive  report  recom- 
mended the  complete  reorganization  of  the  whole  state  system  and, 
in  view  of  the  evils  of  the  constant  multiplication  of  district  schools, 
urged  the  formation  of  union  or  high  school  districts  for  the  main- 
tenance of  district  high  schools.-  The  plan  provided  for  a  higher 
grade  of  instruction  than  that  ordinarily  given  in  the  common  schools 
and  for  state  aid  for  apparatus.  Its  realization,  however,  had  to 
await  the  provision  for  union  free  schools  in  1853. 

In  the  educational  literature  of  the  second  quarter  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  comprising  largely  educational  magazines  and  official 
documents,  a  number  of  meanings  were  attached  to  the  term  "  high 
school."  Among  them  were  the  following:  (i)  the  advanced 
public  school  or  department  as  typified  in  the  Massachusetts  legal 
usage  of  the  term,^  (2)  the  private  fitting  school  often  limited  to 
one  sex,*  (3)  the  secondary  school  founded  by  endowment  through 
private  benevolence,^  (4)  the  manual  labor  school  or  in  some  cases  its 


'Laws  of  Mass.,  Jan.  session,  1838,  chap.  1S9;  cf.  Laws  of  1848,  chap.  279. 

'Assembly  Documents,  1838,  no.  236,  p.  12-14;  cf.  Assembly  Jour.,  1839, 
p.  37.    See  also  Sup't  Rep'ts  1849,  p.  47;  1853,  P-  63-64;  p.  I49- 

'Inglis,  op.  cit.,  p.  35-37;  Annals  of  Ed.,  8:31;  American  Quarterly  Regis- 
ter, 5:275-333-  _.  ^   ^,        .       .     X 

*Amer.   Jour,   of   Ed.,    1:316-17;    Aurner,  History  of   Education    in   Iowa, 

3:78-79,  88,  100. 
"Annals  of  Ed.,  2:147. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  69 

competitor,^  and  also  (5)  the  whole  class  of  secondary  schools  in- 
cluding the  academies/ 

In  this  study  the  first  usage  only  is  considered.  This  appears  to 
have  been  rather  generally  accepted  by  the  middle  of  the  century  out- 
side of  New  York.  All  schools  therefore  are  included  in  this  study 
wherein  branches  higher  than  elementar}'  branches  were  taught  and 
for  which  the  local  public  school  authorities  were  wholly  or  largely 
responsible  in  matters  of  control  and  support.  A  few  endowed 
schools  are  included.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  trace  out  for 
each  community  the  beginnings  of  the  instruction  in  higher  branches. 
In  most  cases  such  instruction  appears  to  have  been  very  meager 
until  some  definite  reorganization  of  the  local  system  brought  about 
the  recognition  in  official  documents  of  the  establishment  of  a  public 
secondary  school. 

In  New  York  State  tradition  and  legal  usage  fixed  upon  the  high 
school  the  name  "  academical  department,"  which  has  persisted  to 
the  present  time.  By  reference  to  table  7  giving  the  data  on  special 
sets  creating  high  schools  before  the  union  free  school  act  of  1853, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  term  high  school  appears  but  once,  academy 
and  classical  school  being  preferred  titles.  The  board  of  education 
of  Warsaw  soon  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1853  offered  a  test 
case  by  making  the  request  first  to  the  Regents  and  then  to  the  Senate 
that  the  name  Warsaw  Academy  be  allowed.^  The  Board  of  Regents 
ruled  that  the  name  academical  department  as  used  in  the  law  was 
more  descriptive  of  the  nature  of  the  school  and  that,  if  the  request 
were  granted,  it  would  be  equivalent  to  converting  these  departments 
into  "  separate  and  independent  corporations  "  like  the  academies. 
The  report  also  stated  that  the  corporate  power  necessary  to  the 
establishment  of  a  high  school  or  academical  department  had  l^een 
taken  from  the  Regents  and  vested  in  the  local  boards  of  educa- 
tion.^ A  little  later  the  Regents  made  an  effort  to  restrict  the  term 
academy  to  private  incorporated  secondary  schools.^" 

In  the  early  history  of  the  high  school  movement  in  New  York, 
however,  there  was  no  uniformity  in  the  names  locally  applied  to 
them.     This  was  due  mainly  to  the  persistence  of  the  name  academy, 


'Annals  of  Ed.,  v.  3,  preface,  p.  iii;  4:161;  8:522. 

^Annals  of  Ed.,  1:155;  3:594;  7'-28.     Cf.  Laws  of  1851,  chap.  425. 

'Regents   Minutes,  6:147,    167-68,  263-64. 

•  Regents  Rep't,  1874,  p.  xvi. 

"  Regents  Minutes,  7 :  164-65  ;  8 :87. 


yO  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

and  its  equivalents,  seminary  and  institute,  and  their  application  to 
the  new  type  of  secondary  schools  with  perhaps  the  addition  of  the 
word  "  free  "  where  little  or  no  tuition  was  charged.  Again  in  cases 
of  the  transfer  of  an  academy  the  old  name  was  generally  retained. 
Of  the  22  public  high  schools  established  by  i860,  10  bore  the  name 
academy  or  free  academy,  2  the  name  institute,  3  that  of  classical  or 
union  classical  school  and  only  i  that  of  high  school.  Sometimes  the 
contribution  of  an  academy  property  was  indicated  for  a  time  by  a 
combination  of  the  two  names,  such  as  for  example,  Franklin 
Academy  and  Prattsburg  Union  School.  After  i860  the  stronger 
city  schools  led  the  way  toward  the  use  of  the  term  high  school. 
Legislative  acts,  however,  did  not  for  some  years  thereafter  give 
preference  to  the  term  and  drop  the  phrase  "  academy  or  high 
■school."  The  university  law  of  1889  determined  the  present  usage 
by  defining  academies  as  including  "  high  schools,  academical  de- 
partments of  union  schools  and  all  other  schools  for  higher  educa- 
tion," except  degree-granting  institutions.^^  The  term  academy  con- 
tinued, however,  to  be  used  in  the  more  restricted  sense  with  refer- 
ence to  private  or  corporate  schools. ^^ 

By  1890  the  unevenness  of  standards  of  high  schools  became  so 
apparent  that  the  Regents  were  compelled  to  adopt  a  system  of  grad- 
ing of  schools  on  the  groimd  that  those  offering  a  three  or  four  year 
course  should  be  differentiated  from  those  that  oiTered  less  by  the 
distinctive  title  of  high  school.^^  The  older  local  names,  academy 
and  the  like,  continued  to  be  used  although  the  Regents  had  under 
consideration  at  one  time  some  method  of  making  the  official  titles 
the  required  local  titles."  At  the  present  time  the  practice  of  the 
State  Department  of  Education  is  to  give  the  grade  of  school  in  a 
separate  column  from  the  local  names.  The  latter  are  now  re- 
stricted to  high  school  and  union  school  except  in  the  case  of  about 
thirty  schools  which  have  retained  the  old  title  of  academy,  seminary 
or  institute  for  reasons  of  local  sentiment  and  tradition.^-' 

2  Early  New  York  High  Schools  and  their  Ciirriculums 
A  complete  account  of  the  development  of  the  New  York  high 
school  system  would  of  course  include  a  description  of  the  origin, 


"  Laws  of  1889,  chap.  529. 
"  Regents  Rep't,  1893,  p.  rioB. 
^'Regents  Rep't,  1892,  p.  rig. 

"Regents  Rep't,  1894,  p.  ri28.     Cf.  Rep't  of  the  High  School  Dep't,  1904, 
p.  r5-6. 
"Regents  Rep't,   1913,  p.  736-65. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  /I 

establishment  and  history  of  each  individual  school.  Since  this  is  a 
task  quite  beyond  the  limits  of  the  present  study/*^  the  early  history 
of  the  first  two  schools  to  be  admitted  into  the  University  is  given 
here.  The  Lockport  Union  School  and  the  New  York  (City)  Free 
Academy  were  both  legalized  in  1847  and  are  entitled  to  be  called 
the  only  public  high  schools  established  in  New  York  in  the  first 
half  of  the  last  century.  There  is  considerable  evidence  of  a 
general  nature  that  these  schools  became  models  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  high  schools  into  other  New  York  cities.  Later  schools,  for 
example,  tended  to  use  very  largely  the  terms  "  union  school  "  and 
"  free  academy,"  and  the  literature  dealing  with  education  made 
much  of  the  experiments  tried  in  the  western  village  and  the 
metropolis. 

a  Lockport  Union  School.  The  Lockport  L^nion  School  has  the 
distinction  of  being  the  first  of  the  high  schools  of  the  State  to  be 
legalized  and  the  first  to  be  established.  Local  records  give  the 
credit  for  the  conception  of  the  union  school  district  to  Sullivan 
Caverno,  a  local  lawyer,  who  was  a  former  Nev/  Englander  and 
a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College.  It  was  he  who  called  the  first 
organization  meeting  and  who  later  drafted  the  law.^''  Shortly 
after  the  passage  of  the  bill  the  board  of  education  was  organized 
with  Caverno  as  president  and  on  July  5,  1848,  the  school  was  opened 
in  a  building  specially  provided.  There  were  enrolled  in  the  first 
quarter  235  pupils  of  whom  the  larger  number  were  pursuing  the 
higher  grades  of  elementary  instruction.  The  school's  immediate 
popularity  was  due  in  pait  to  the  fact  that  there  was  no  strongly 
intrenched  competing  academy.  The  Lockport  Academy,  incor- 
porated in  1841,  was  apparently  defunct  and  had  never  been  received 
by  the  Regents. ^^  Of  the  better  select  schools  of  the  village,  at  least 
two  were  rendered  innocuous  in  time  by  the  appointment  of  the 
principals  to  become  teachers  in  the  union  school. 

Instruction  had  hardly  begun  v/hen  organized  opposition  and 
threatened  injury  to  the  new  venture  came  about  with  the  realiza- 
tion that  taxpayers  who  sent  their  children  must  also  pay  tuition. 


"  See  Hough,  op.  cit..  p.  574-732.  This  account  which,  despite  small 
inaccuracies,  gives  a  good  brief  statement  concerning  each  school  to  1884  is 
now  being  revised  by  Dr  Henry  L.  Taylor. 

"  The  sources  are  largely  limited  to  the  minutes  of  the  board  of  education 
(missing  for  1848).  and  the  register  of  the  union  school,  both  in  manuscript. 
See  also  Catalog  of  the  Union  School,  1897-98,  50th  Anniversary  Number. 

"Laws  of  1841,  chap.  263.  Four  of  the  original  trustees  of  this  institution 
were  members  of  the  first  board  of  education. 


7?  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

Relief  was  had  and  the  school  saved  by  an  act  of  1850,  by  which 
the  union  school  became  subject  to  Regents  visitation  and  shared 
in  the  literature  fund,  and  the  board  of  education  was  denied  the 
privilege  of  taxation  for  teachers'  salaries. ^^  Consequently  teachers' 
salaries  and  tuition  rates  fluctuated  constantly  and  the  attendance 
and  the  efficiency  of  the  school  suffered  somewhat  for  over  a  decade. 

The  course  of  study  at  the  outset  and  as  modified  during  the  first 
five  years  is  given  in  table  8,  from  which  it  may  be  gathered  that 
there  was  little  deviation  from  the  practice  of  the  typical  academy. 
The  subjects  of  music  and  commercial  branches  were  early  provided 
at  first  through  special  teachers  who  depended  on  tuition  for  their 
incomes.  The  school  was  divided  into  junior  and  senior  depart- 
ments, with  entrance  age  requirements  respectively  10  and  12  years, 
the  junior  department  confining  its  work  largely  to  elementary 
branches.  The  course  in  the  earlier  years,  as  in  the  academies,  was 
quite  lacking  in  organization  so  that  pupils  elected  subjects  very 
much  as  they  desired.  The  practice  of  graduation  was  begun  in 
1858  in  which  year  a  class  of  four,  one  boy  and  three  girls,  was 
graduated. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  example  set  by  this  enterprising 
canal  village  was  rapidly  followed  by  other  western  villages,  so 
that  either  with  or  without  legislation  the  higher  branches  came  to 
be  taught  in  many  school  systems.  It  may  well  be  that  the  initial 
step  toward  the  general  union  free  school  law  was  taken  when  this 
school  was  brought  into  existence.  The  experiment  had  now  been 
tried  in  New  York  as  in  her  sister  states  to  east  and  west  of  creating 
public  secondary  school  facilities.  In  this  instance  it  was  proved 
that  a  village  board  of  education  with  its  executive  officers,  a  super- 
intendent whose  duties  were  largely  managerial  and  clerical  and  a 
principal  whose  duties  were  professional,  could  compete  with  the 
privately  endowed  academy  and  this  in  spite  of  very  great  difficulties 
inherent  in  the  special  enabling  act  and  the  general  school  law.-" 
However  the  early  history  of  the  school  shows  the  persistence  of 
numerous  academic  traditions  such  as  annual  celebrations,  a  pre- 
ceptress for  the  female  department,  and  boarding  privileges  for  a 
limited  number  of  boys. 

The  attitude  of  the  Regents  seems  to  have  been  favorable.  In 
1850  the  Board  first  satisfied  itself  that  the  requirements  were  met 


'•Laws  of  1850,  chap.  T].     See  minutes  of  the  board  of  education,  Nov.  30, 
1849. 
"New  York  Teacher  (1852),  1:153.     Cf.  Sup't  Rep't,  1853,  p.  18. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  73 

as  regards  age  of  pupils  and  a  separate  building  for  instruction  and 
then  unanimously  passed  a  resolution  constituting  the  school  an 
academy,  "  sufficient  provision  being  also  made  that  the  organization, 
government  and  reports  of  the  common  schools,  also  under  the  care 
of  the  said  board  of  education  are  altogether  distinct  and  separate."-^ 
In  the  same  year  a  request  for  recognition  of  a  department  of 
teacher-training  was  refused  on  the  ground  of  the  inadvisability  of 
making  a  change  in  the  existing  arrangement  within  the  county.-^ 
Three  years  later  this  privilege  was  given  and  the  union  school  then 
lacked  nothing  of  full  participation  with  the  academies  in  the 
benefits  of  the  state  system  of  secondary  education. 

h  New  York  (City)  Free  Academy,  1848-66.  We  have  seen  that 
not  only  Stuyvesant  but  the  founders  and  promoters  of  the  New 
York  High  School  Society  and  the  Public  School  Society  had  recog- 
nized the  superior  public  educational  advantages  of  New  York's 
commercial  rival,  Boston.  From  1839  on,  a  few  of  the  graduates  of 
the  public  schools  were  given  scholarships  to  Columbia  College  and 
New  York  University,'^  but  so  few  as  only  to  make  evident  the 
fact  that  there  was  a  hiatus  between  the  lower  schools  and  the  col- 
leges that  only  a  secondary  school  could  fiU.^*  In  1846  a  resolution 
was  introduced  in  the  board  of  education  which  led  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  to  memorialize  the  Legislature  as  to  the  possibil- 
ity of  obtaining  part  of  the  literature  fund  for  "  the  support  of  a 
High  School  or  College  for  the  benefit  of  pupils  .  .  .  educated  in  the 
public  schools."-^  The  committee's  memorial  held  that  of  the  four 
local  institutions  receiving  aid  from  the  Regents,  two  were  not  in 
any  way  entitled  to  it  while  the  other  two  as  grammar  schools  of  the 
two  colleges  made  no  provision  for  those  entering  agricultural  and 
mercantile  pursuits.  As  a  result  there  was  framed  and  passed  in 
1847  ^'^  ^ct  submitting  the  question  of  the  establishment  of  a  free 
academy  to  the  electorate.-"  Following  an  overwhelmingly  favorable 
vote,  the  board  of  education  was  enabled  to  open  the  academy 
January  2y,  1849. 


"Regents  Minutes  (MSS),  5:425. 

"Regents  Minutes  (MSS),  5:428.  Cf.  Minutes  of  the  board  of  education, 
Jan.  28,  1853. 

=^Amer.  Jour,  of  Ed.    (1830),  5:136. 

"  Remvick,  James,  Life  of  DeWitt  Clinton,  p.  80-85. 

*°  Twenty-first  Annual  Rep't  of  the  Board  of  Ed.,  1862.  Gives  early  history 
of  school  and  credits  the  conception  to  Townsend  Harris. 

^  Laws  of  1847,  chap.  206. 


74  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

The  double  purpose  of  academic  and  collegiate  instruction  was 
maintained  at  the  outset  but  very  soon  the  latter  came  to  dominate. 
In  the  establishment  and  organization  of  the  school  the  models  which 
were  followed,  however,  were  the  Boston  English  High  School  and 
the  Philadelphia  Central  High  School,  particularly  the  latter.  The 
Philadelphia  institution  had  been  created  in  1836  and  established  by 
1838.  After  ten  years  of  successful  administration  there  was 
developed  a  four-year  course  with  the  following  departments  or 
professorships:  philosophy  (mental,  moral  and  political);  belles- 
lettres  and  history ;  ancient  and  modern  languages ;  mathematics  and 
astronomy ;  anatomy,  physiology  and  hygiene ;  drawing,  writing 
and  bookkeeping;  and  additional  lectures  in  history  and  extra- 
English.-^  By  185 1  there  were  provided  similarly  in  the  New  York 
Free  Academy  ten  departments  differing  from  these  in  the  Central 
High  School  in  the  following  particulars :  no  provision  was  made  for 
extra-English  and  history  courses,  comparatively  little  for  astronomy, 
chemistry  and  physics  were  set  off  from  natural  philosophy  while 
three  distinct  departments  were  formed  of  civil  engineering,  drawing, 
and  law  with  political  economy  and  statistics.  For  a  more  complete 
comparison  of  the  curriculums  of  the  two  schools  at  this  time,  see 
table  8. 

Both  institutions  were  influenced  very  definitely  by  the  West 
Point  Mihtary  Academy,  because  the  first  presidents  of  each  were 
West  Point  men  who  introduced  the  common  ideals  of  discipline 
and  curriculum.  The  stress  on  mathematics  and  science  together 
with  the  large  place  given  to  merits  and  awards  are  the  best  evidences 
of  this.  In  the  Philadelphia  High  School  there  was  early  devel- 
oped a  principal  and  a  classical  course,  which  differed  only  in 
the  substitution  in  the  former  of  modern  for  ancient  language.  In 
the  New  York  Free  Academy  the  same  differentiation  was  made 
and  the  courses  were  called  the  ancient  and  modern  language  courses. 
Building  alike  on  the  experience  of  the  Boston  English  High  School, 
similar  admission  requirements  were  established.  Pupils  were 
required  to  be  12  years  of  age,  to  have  spent  one  year  in  the  public 
elementary  schools,  and  had  to  submit  themselves  to  rigid  entrance 
examinations  in  subjects  including  the  three  R's,  spelling.  United 
States  history  and  geography.  By  1850  the  examinations  for  the 
Central  High  School  were  made  to  include  the  constitution  of  the 


"Annual  Reports  of  the  Controllers  of  the  Public  Schools  of  Philadelphia, 
T836  ff.  See  also  Edmonds,  History  of  the  Central  High  School  of  Philadel- 
phia, p.  128-32. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  75 

United  States  and  the  elements  of  algebra  and  mensuration  while 
those  of  the  New  York  Free  Academy  were  supplemented  in  1852 
by  elements  of  algebra,  in  1853  by  elementary  bookkeeping  and  in 
^^57  t>y  plane  geometry  and  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 
These  last  two  subjects  were  soon  thereafter  dropped,  but  the 
age  requirement  was  made  14  years. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  opposition  to  so  novel  an  experiment 
developed,  receiving  perhaps  its  most  vigorous  expression  in  the 
famous  "  dissent  "  of  Horace  Greeley.-®  Greeley  held  that  the  free 
academy  should  be  given  up  and  the  money  used  for  charity  on  the 
grounds  that  the  institution  had  devoted  itself  too  largely  to  dead 
languages  and  that  it  was  not  the  State's  business  to  provide  special 
facilities  for  the  superior  in  intellect,  thus  making  class  distinctions. 
The  incoming  mayor  in  the  following  year  (1851)  raised  the  ques- 
tion of  the  large  expenditures  on  the  part  of  common  schools.  As  an 
answer  to  these  attacks,  a  careful  study  was  made  of  the  New  York 
system  in  comparison  with  other  city  systems,  one-half  of  which 
had  high  schools,  and  of  the  New  York  Free  Academy  with  fifty- 
five  colleges  and  universities.-''  The  report  of  this  select  committee 
made  evident  (i)  that  New  York  was  spending  relatively  less  than 
most  cities  upon  common  or  elementary  instruction  and  (2)  that 
while  the  free  academy  was  much  more  costly  per  pupil  than  other 
high  schools  it  compared  favorably  in  this  regard  with  the  colleges 
and  universities.  From  this  time  on  repeated  efforts  were  made  to 
obtain  recognition  for  the  school  as  a  college  and  in  1853  the  Regents 
granted  it  the  right  to  give  degrees  and  to  use  the  name  New  York 
Free  College. ^°  The  Legislature  ratified  the  privilege  of  giving 
degrees  in  1854."^  and  in  1866  erected  the  school  into  the  College  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  its  present  title."-  In  that  interval  it  had 
received  from  the  Regents  a  total  of  $16,532  which,  according  to 
the  act  of  1854,  had  been  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  a  library, 
had  graduated  426  students  and  had  taught  annually  from  201  to 
885  pupils. ^^  It  remains  to  note  how  far  the  academy,  while  it  was 
such  in  name,  fulfilled  the  original  purposes  of  its  founders. 

In  the  first  place  it  \vas  earnestly  expected  that  the  school  v.-ould 
react  upon  the  lower  schools  providing  an  incentive  for  study  even 


'  Annual  Rep't  of  the  Board  of  Ed.,  1850,  p.  30-31. 

'Annual  Rep't  of  the  Board  of  Ed.,  185 1,  Doc.  9,  especially  tables  C  and  D. 
'Regents  Minutes,  6:31,  41,  45,  49,   116,   118-21. 
Laws  of  1854,  chap.  267. 
'  Laws  of   1866,  chap.  264. 
'  Compiled  from  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  479,  670. 


76  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

for  those  who  would  not  or  could  not  enter,  thus  popularizing  and 
extending  the  benefits  of  the  lower  schools.  Thomas  Boese,  clerk 
of  the  school  board  1858-69,  enthusiastically  stated  that  as  a  result 
of  its  influence  '*  thousands  who  had  hitherto  held  aloof  from  the 
public  schools  now  sent  their  children."  '*  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  basis  for  this  statement,  there  were  undoubtedly  some  who 
patronized  the  public  schools  because  of  the  consequent  advantage 
of  free  higher  education.  It  was  not  until  1882  that  the  restriction 
of  one  year's  attendance  in  the  public  schools  before  entrance  into 
the  college  was  removed.^''  On  the  other  hand,  statistics  of  attend- 
ance indicate  less  gain  relatively  and  absolutely  in  numbers  of  new 
pupils  in  the  five  years  following  the  opening  of  the  free  academy 
than  in  the  five  preceding.  There  were,  however,  curricular  adjust- 
ments of  the  lower  schools  to  make  them  correlate  more  closely. 
In  the  so-called  male  schools,  there  came  in  the  tendency  to  stress 
algebra,  history  and  other  higher  subjects  often  at  the  expense  of 
the  lower  and  fundamental  subjects.^^  In  1853  the  course  of 
instruction  for  the  sixth  and  uppermost  class  of  the  male  departments 
stated  that  the  pupils  pursuing  it  were  preparing  for  entrance  to 
the  free  academy  by  taking  the  required  entrance  branches,  and  by 
1857  these  departments  were  teaching  history,  physiology,  natural 
philosophy,  bookkeeping,  algebra  and  geometry.  In  1862  a  supple- 
mentary course  was  offered  for  those  who  cared  to  take  it  giving 
most  of  the  subjects  offered  in  the  first  year  of  the  academy  course. 
In  1866  there  was  established  the  first  evening  high  school  with  a 
program  of  studies  almost  as  broad  in  scope  as  that  of  the  free 
academy.^^ 

At  the  time  of  the  graduation  of  the  first  class  the  academy  was 
teaching  little  more  than  i  per  cent  of  the  number  enrolled  in  the 
public  schools.  Previous  to  1866  the  number  graduating  each  year 
included  between  2><  and  8  per  cent  of  the  academy  enrolment.  The 
attendance  had  risen  to  885  in  1858  but  from  that  point  declined 
for  some  time.  In  one  respect,  however,  the  influence  of  the  school 
was  largely  felt  in  the  lower  grades,  inasmuch  as  many  of  its  pupils 
and  graduates  became  teachers  in  the  system.^* 


"Boese,  Public  Education  in  the  City  of  New  York,  p.  75. 

"'Laws  of  1882,  chap.  410. 

"Annual  Rep't  of  the  Board  of  Ed.,  1850,  p.  ^2,  76-78. 

■"  Annual  Rep'ts  of  the  Board  of  Ed.,  1853,  p.  15-16;  1857,  p.  23;  1862,  p.  24: 
1866,  p.  25. 

^  Finley,  J.,  The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  in  Cyc  of  Education, 
Monroe,  4:456-58. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  "JJ 

Evidence  exists  of  a  rather  positive  nature  that  the  function  in 
the  minds  of  the  founders  of  the  academy  of  preparing  men  for 
the  more  practical  pursuits  of  "  agricultural,  mechanical  and  other 
productive  occupations "  was  not  fulfilled  even  through  the 
open  door  of  free  tuition.  This  ideal  seems  alike  to  have  been 
at  the  basis  of  the  establishment  of  the  English  High  School  of 
Boston  and  the  Philadelphia  Central  High  School.  The  latter,  in 
its  earlier  history  especially,  served  the  nonprofessional  classes,  the 
graduates  entering  a  wide  range  of  activities.  Apparently  this  did 
not  so  widely  hold  of  the  New  York  Free  Academy  for  in  1862  no 
less  than  15  per  cent  of  the  pupils  were  from  the  professional 
classes,^''  while  of  the  graduates  for  the  period  1854-64  whose 
records  were  obtainable  in  the  latter  year,  the  occupations  were 
as  follows  :*"  teaching  20  per  cent,  law  20  per  cent,  ministry  10 
per  cent,  medicine  6  per  cent,  military  and  banking  pursuits  each  6 
per  cent,  architecture  and  engineering  6  per  cent,  leaving  about  25 
per  cent  consisting  of  tailors,  clerks,  merchants,  bookkeepers  etc., 
the  class  for  which  the  school  was  more  particularly  founded.  From 
this  point  the  interest  came  to  be  even  more  largely  centered  in  a 
rigorous  mathematical  and  classical  curriculum  and  the  more  popular 
and  practical  branches  were  developed  in  such  institutions  as  Cooper 
Union. ''^  No  fundamental  change  was  made  until,  with  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  high  schools  in  the  last  decade  of  the  century,  the 
introductory  course  was  extended  to  three  years  and  upon  the  request 
of  the  Regents  the  college  curriculum  was  strengthened,  it  having 
lagged  behind  because  the  school  was  doing  double  duty  for  col- 
legiate and  secondary  education.*- 

This  account  is  scarcely  complete  without  brief  reference  to  the 
attempt  at  about  the  same  time  to  establish  a  "  female  free  academy." 
This  was  felt  by  many  to  be  the  only  gap  in  an  otherwise  complete 
system  and  in  1849  ^  special  committee  was  appointed  to  consider 
the  "  expediency  and  propriety "  of  establishing  such  a  school. 
The  committee's  report  held  that  such  an  institution  would  prepare 
teachers  for  the  lower  schools,  would  render  complete  justice  to 
the  female  sex  and  would  provide   the  opportunity  of  higher  educa- 


'"  Annual  Rep't,  1862,  p.  13-15. 

*  Compiled  from  nth  Annual  Rep't  of  the  Free  Academy. 
"Jour,  of  the  Board  of  Ed.,  1858,  p.  235. 

"  Mosenlhal   and  Home ;    City  College :    Memories  of   Sixty  Years.     Also 
Palmer,  op.  cit.,  chap.  37. 


78  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

tion  for  those  who  could  not  bear  the  expense  of  private  schools.'*^ 
In  1854  earnest  advocates  in  the  board  of  education  secured  the  pas- 
sage of  a  bill  granting  the  right  of  establishment,  but  with  the  stipu- 
lation that  this  must  wait  upon  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  the 
board  of  education.'**  Such  a  vote  was  not  obtained  and  throughout 
the  fifties  progressive  board  members  and  the  superintendent  con- 
stantly urged,  following  the  example  of  Boston,  Baltimore  and 
Philadelphia  in  the  establishment  of  a  "  Female  High  School  and 
Normal  School."  The  grammar  schools  for  girls  were  less  advanced 
than  those  for  boys  and  full  preparation  for  the  highest  grade  of 
city  teachers  certificate  was  obtained  only  by  special  study  in 
advance  of  the  subjects  offered  in  the  common  schools,*^  while  from 
i860  to  1864  the  short  training  courses  offered  in  Saturday  normal 
classes  were  suspended.  These  were  resumed  in  1869  and  two  years 
later  the  "  Normal  College  "  was  legalized.**^  This  became  and 
remained  a  training  school  for  women  teachers.*^ 

c  Curriculums  of  New  York  secondary  schools  about  1850. 
Table  8  gives  data  for  a  comparative  view  of  the  first  two  New  York 
high  schools,  discussed  in  the  previous  section,  their  predecessors, 
the  Boston  and  Philadelphia  high  schools,  and  also  the  academies  of 
the  State  of  New  York  in  the  matter  of  their  curriculums  about  the 
year  1850.  Most  of  the  changes  made  in  the  two  or  three  years 
immediately  preceding  and  following  are  noted  in  the  case  of  the 
Philadelphia,  Lockport  and  New  York  City  institutions. 

The  general  similarity  of  the  offering  of  subjects  of  the  three  large 
city  high  schools  is  very  striking  although  the  curriculum  of  the  New 
York  Free  Academy  shows  the  early  tendency  toward  collegiate  sub- 
jects. The  more  stable  curriculum  of  the  English  High  School  of 
Boston  is  supplemented  in  the  other  two  schools  by  advanced  and 
specialized  courses  in  applied  mathematics  and  by  instruction  in  the 
foreign  languages. 

It  may  similarly  be  seen  that  the  Lockport  Union  School  curric- 
ulum is  patterned  closely  after  the  prevailing  practice  in  the 
academies.  All  the  schools  of  this  period  found  it  necessary  to  give 
.some  attention  to  elementary  subjects.     Many  academy  pupils,  how- 


^^  Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Ed.,  quoted  in  Doc.  no.  5,  Assembly  Documents, 
1858,  no.  50;  Rep't  of  Commission  to  Investij^ate  the  Schools  of  the  City 
under  chap.  6qq,  Laws  of  1857. 

■"Laws  of  1854,  chap.  loi. 

*■  Annual   Rep'ts,   1861,  p.  4-16;    1862,  p.  44-45. 

^  Laws  of  1871,  chap.  692. 

*  Palmer,  op.  cit,   chap.  38. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  79 

ever,  pursued  these  subjects  only  while  the  high  schools  offered  them 
in  supplementation  of  previous  training  and  in  order  that  pupils 
might  be  enabled  to  make  up  deficiencies  in  their  entrance  examina- 
tions in  these  subjects.  In  the  table  the  figures  following  the  sub- 
jects in  the  last  column  indicate  the  number  of  academies  in  which 
the  subject  was  taught  except  where  it  was  universal,  as  with  spell- 
ing, declamation  and  a  few  other  subjects. 


So 


THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


Table 
Curriculums  of  secondary 


English  High  School 

Philadelphia 

New  York  Free 

(Boston)' 

Central  H.  S.2 

Academy  * 

Rev.  elem.  bran. 

Arithmetic 

Spelling 

Etymology 

,Eng.  ety.  and  phil.* 

Reading           a;. 

Hist.,  Eng.  lang.  and  lit. 

Prin.  Eng.  lang.' 
Hist.  Eng.  lang.6  1 

Eng.  gram. 

Grammar 

Grammat.  const.' 

Writing 

Penmanship 

Declamation 

Elocution  3 

Orat.;  eloc.^ 
Foren.  disc'   * 

Composition 

Composition 

Eng.  compos. 

Rhetoric 

Rhetoric  ^ 

Rhot.;  pronun.' 

Anglo-Saxon 

Eng.  writers  ^ 

Gen.  hist. 

Gen.  and  univ.  hist. 

Hist.  Greece  &  Rome 

Anc.  hist 

Hist.  U.  S. 

Hist.  U.  S. 
Hist.  Eng. 
Hist.  Pa.  &  Phila. 

Mod.  hist.' 

Const.  U.  S. 

Const.  U.  S. 

Const.  U.  S.5 

Linear  draw. 

Drawing 

Drawing 

Mech.  draw.' 

Machine  draw.' 

Algebra 

Algebra 

Algebra 

Geometry 

Geometry 

Geometry 

Trigonometry 

PI.  &  spher.  trig. 

Anal.,  pi.  &  spher.  (trig.) ' 

Surveying 

Surveying 

Surveying ' 

Navigation 

Navigation  ' 

Navigation  ' 

Mensuration 

Mensur.  &  arith. 

Mensuration ' 

Astron.  calc. 

Uranography 

Astronomy 

Astronomy 

Astronomy' 

Anal.  geom. 

Anal,  geom.' 

Differ,  calc. 

Dif.  &  int.  calc' 

Spher.  proj.' 

Descr.  geom.' 

Graphics 

Civil  eng.' 

Nat.  philosophy 

Nat.  phil. 

Nat.  phil.,  etc' 
Physics ' 
Optics,  heat  etc' 

Chemistry 


Mat.  theology 
Evid.  Christ. 

Moral  philosophy 
Intel],  philosophy 
Logic 

Bookkeeping 

French 


Ancient  geog. 


Chemistry 
Hygiene  &  zool. 
Dom.  med.  &  surgery 
Anat.,  physiol. 


Moral  science 

Mental  phil. 

Logic 

Pol.  econ. 

Bookkeeping 

Phonography 

French 

Spanish 

Greek 

Latin 


Dynamics ' 
Chemistry 


Anat.,  physiol.5 

Nat.  hist.' 

Nat.  &  rev.  relig. ' 

Hist,  phil.' 

Moral  phil. 

Intell.  phil.' 

Logic 

Pol.  econ.^ 

Bookkeeping 

Phonography 

French 

Spanish 

Greek 

Latin 

Anc.  &  med.  geog. 

Greek  &  Rom.  antiq.' 

Law,  internat.,  etc' 

German ' 


'  Curric.  from  1833-52;  see  Barnard's  Jour.,  19:  484-87. 
'From  Rep't  of  Controllers,  1849. 
'  From  Rep't  of  Controllers,  1850. 

♦  From  Rep'ts  New  York  Free  Academy,  Jan.  28  and  July  17,  1850;  see  notes  5  and  6. 
'  From  Rep't  of  Board  of  Ed.,  1851,  Doc.  9;  studies  added  after  first  year  and  a  half. 

•  From  Rep't  of  Board  of  Ed.  (on  Free  Acad.);  Jan.  1853. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    At^MISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS 


schools  about  1850 


Lockport 
Union  School  ' 


New  York  Academies 
in  1853  ^ 


Arith.;  geog. 

Spelling 

Reading 

Grammar 
Writing 
Declamation  ^ 

Composition  ' 
Rhetoric  ^ 

Hist.;  gen.  hist.i 

Hist.  U.  S. 


Drawing 

Algebra 
Geometry 
Trigon9m.8 
Surveying 

Mensuration  ' 

Astronomy  » 


Civil  eng.8 
Nat.  phil. 


Chemistry 


Anat.,8  physiol. 
Botany  s 


Philosophy 
Intell.  phil.s 

Bookkeeping 
French 

Greek' 

Latin 

German 


Arith.;  geog.,  162 

Spelling 

Reading;  pronunciation 

Grammar 

Writing 

Declamation 

Composition 

Rhet.;  elem.  of  crit.,  107 

Gen.  hist.,  119 
Mythology,  16 
Hist.  U.  S.,  95 


Drawing,  24 
Draughting,  i 
Alg.,  i6s;  logs.,  44 
PI.  geom.,  t57 
Trigonom.,   102 
Survey.,  103;  level.,  20 
Navigation,  25 
Mensuration,  58 

Astronomy,  152 

Anal,  geom.,  19 

Calculus,  12 

Descr.  geom.,  6 

Conic  sect.,  24 

Civil  eng.,  12 

Nat.  phil.,  161 

(See  note  10  below) 

Optics.  34 

Mechanics,  43 

Chem.,  141;  agric.  chem.,  14 

Zoology,  6 

Anat.,  66;  hygiene,  41 
Bot.,  119;  nat.  hist.,  35 
Nat.  theol.,  22 
Evid.  Christ.,  26 

Moral  phil.,  S3 
Intell.  phil.,  97 
Logic,  3 1 
Pol.  econ.,  21 
Bookkeeping,  146 

French,  152 
Spanish,  12;  Ital.,  12 
Greek,  136 
Latin,  162 

Greek  antiq.,  24;  Roman,  26 

Law  and  gov't,  95 

German,  O9 

Hebrew,  3 

Prin.  of  teaching,  33 

Geol.,  56;  Meteor.,  17;  Miner.,  17 


f  Register  Union  School  (MSS),  for  July  1S4S. 
*  From  schedule  8,  Regents  Rep't,  1854. 

9  From  Regents  Rep't,  1854;  numbers  following  a  subject  refer  to  number  of  academies  in  which 
it  is  taught  out  of  a  total  of  167. 

"•Following  subjects  also  appear:  electricity,  50;  hydrostatics,  3;  magnetism,  42;  technology,  7. 


:3^^2>^ 


82  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

J  Admission  to  the  University;  Grading  of  Sclwols 
Empowered  by  the  act  of  establishment  of  The  University  of  the 
State  of  New  York  to  incorporate  academies,  provided  that  the 
applications  for  incorporation  and  the  charters  were  in  writing  and 
that  such  academies  were  found  to  be  "  calculated  for  the  promotion 
of  literature,"*^  the  Regents  in  1801  adopted  an  ordinance  requiring 
in  addition  from  each  acadeni}-  proof  of  the  possession  of  sufficient 
well-secured  investments  which  should  yield  an  annual  income  of 
$100.  In  181 5  this  was  raised  to  $250.  The  principal  was  not  to  be 
diminished  and  the  income  was  to  be  used  for  the  payment  of 
teachers'  salaries.'*-'  As  early  as  1812,  however,  the  Legislature 
began  the  practice  of  granting  charters  or  acts  of  incorporation  to 
academies,^'*  and  from  1820  to  1840  the  number  so  incorporated  far 
exceeded  the  number  incorporated  by  the  Regents.^^ 

As  the  formal  act  of  incorporation  was  desired  largely  for  the 
fact  that  it  gave  the  school  "  admission  to  visitation  "  and  therefore 
to  a  share  in  the  annual  distribution  of  the  literature  fund  and  other 
funds  in  the  care  of  the  Regents,  it  became  common  practice  for 
Legislature-incorporated  schools  to  secure  this  privilege  either  indi- 
vidually in  their  charters  or  through  general  acts,  it  being  stipulated 
in  each  case  that  the  ordinances  and  by-laws  of  the  Regents  must  be 
complied  with.  With  the  supplementation  of  these  funds  in  1838 
by  the  addition  of  a  portion  of  the  income  of  the  United  States 
deposit  fund,  supplementary  requirements  were  laid  down  for  the 
schools  which  were  to  enjoy  the  privileges  above-mentioned,  namely 
a  suitable  building  ready  for  use,  suitable  library  and  apparatus,  and 
"  a  proper  preceptor."^-  Buildings,  apparatus  and  library  must 
together  be  worth  $2500,  no  requirement  being  made  as  regards 
endowment.  The  Regents  in  their  subsequent  revision  of  instruc- 
tions to  the  academies  interpreted  the  term  "  suitable  "  in  the  case  of 
library  and  apparatus  to  mean  the  equivalent  in  each  case  of  $150. 
even  though  the  value  of  the  building  exceeded  $2500.^^  They  also 
provided  detailed  forms  of  application  for  the  incorporation  of 
academies  and  for  the  admission  of  those  incorporated  bv  the  Legis- 
lature.^* 


**Laws   of   1787,  chap.  82,   sec.   12;   also  Revised   StaUites,   1836,  chap.    15, 
title  I,  art.  3. 
■"■Resrents  Instructions,  1834,  p.  26. 
"T.aws  of  1812,  chap.  167. 
"  See  chan.  i. 
"T.aws  of  1838,  chap.  237. 
"Reeents  Instructions,   1845.  p.  23-24. 
"Ibid.,  p.   18-23. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  83 

The  act  of  1838  and  the  regulations  prescribed  by  the  Regents  and 
based  thereon  were  in  force  at  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  the  high 
school  movement.  The  high  schools  were,  as  shown  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  made  corporate  institutions  through  special  powers 
granted  to  local  appointed  or  elected  boards  of  trustees  or  of  educa- 
tion, and  were,  like  the  academies,  given  the  privileges  of  visitation 
and  of  sharing  in  the  distribution  of  academic  funds,  provided  the 
rules  and  regulations  of  the  University  were  fully  complied  with. 
These  provisions  were  made  a  part  of  the  general  union  school  act 
of  1853  and  its  amendments.  In  the  case  therefore  of  the  early  high 
schools  or  academical  departments  the  Regents  followed  the  practice 
already  in  vogue  for  three  decades  and  voted  formally  upon  the 
admission  of  each  when  satisfied  that  the  requirements  of  the  laws 
and  ordinances  were  met.^^  Admission  was  refused  or  granted 
conditionally  without  the  enjoyment  of  a  share  in  the  state  funds  in 
case  debts  were  not  wholly  paid  or  provided  for  or  in  case  the  re- 
quirements regarding  library  and  apparatus  were  only  partially  met.^° 
As' no  records  are  to  be  found  either  in  the  annual  reports  of  the 
Regents  or  the  minutes  of  the  Board,  it  seems  certain  that  a  minor 
number  of  public  secondary  schools  came  into  the  University  with- 
out formal  vote  of  the  Regents  or  even  formal  recognition  of  legis- 
lative incorporation.  The  academies  already  incorporated  and  ad- 
mitted formed  a  special  case  when  they  were  merged  into  the  high 
school  type  and  often  the  minutes  simply  record  the  fact  of  their  re- 
organization.^' Following  a  decade  of  rapid  merging,  there  was 
passed  in  1880  an  ordinance  requiring  that  academical  departments 
so  formed  must  after  January  1881,  be  formally  received  upon  ap- 
plication as  prescribed  in  the  ordinances. '^^  The  forms  were  in  gen- 
eral like  those  for  the  incorporation  of  academies  in  that  they  called 
for  an  attested  description  of  property  of  all  forms  but  were  unlike 
them,  because  of  the  lack  of  jurisdiction  of  the  Regents,  in  that  a 
statement  only  was  required  as  to  whether  or  not  the  academical  de- 
partment was  provided  with  a  separate  building. ^^ 

The  increase  of  academical  departments  was  such  that  by  1874  they 
were  equal  in  number  to  the  academies,""  and  the  inrush  caused  such 


■"^Regents  Minutes,  7:17,  208. 

"Ibid.,  7:3-4,  293;  8:59,  87,  125-26,  253-54,  313. 

"Ibid.,  7:317-18;  8:12,  241. 

"Ibid.,  9;6-8;  cf.  8:286,  .321.  The  law  had  left  the  matter  somewhat  obscure 
and  had  specifically  provided  only  that  the  transfer  be  recorded  in  the  office 
of  the  county  clerk;  see  Regents  Rep't,  1868,  p.  xxiv. 

^'Univ.  Manual,  1864,  p.  55-56;  cf.  Laws  of  1853,  chap.  433. 

"Regents  Rep't,   1874,  p.  420-27.    . 


84  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

a  lowering  of  standards  that  amendment  of  the  ordinances  governing 
admission  became  necessary/'^  The  new  regulations  of  1883  in- 
creased the  required  valuation  of  the  library  and  apparatus  each  to 
$500  and  in  addition  required  assurance  of  sufficient  income  and  of 
ihe  attendance  of  25  academic  scholars. **- 

Previous  to  this  time  the  Regents  had  never  made  an  elTort,  at 
least  with  a  definite  program,  to  increase  the  number  of  schools  under 
their  control  and  management,  waiting  for  applications  when  local 
initiative  brought  about  the  establishment  of  schools  and  sought  their 
admission.''^  As  a  result  of  this  policy  there  appeared  in  1878  in 
the  School  Bulletin,  the  leading  private  educational  journal  of  the 
State  at  the  time,  an  editorial,  in  answer  to  repeated  requests  for 
information  as  to  the  means  to  and  advantages  of  visitation  of  the 
Regents.  The  article  particularly  stressed  the  financial  aid,  the 
standing  among  the  schools  of  the  State,  the  opportunity  in  the  an- 
nual reports  of  the  Regents  for  comparative  study  with  other  schools 
and  the  incentive  given  to  scholars  by  means  of  the  Regents  system 
of  examinations.*^*  A  decade  later  a  new  policy  was  initiated  with 
the  appointment  of  a  new  secretary  in  the  person  of  Melvil  Dewey. 
In  the  following  year  (1889),  the  revision  and  consolidation  of  the 
university  law  became  the  working  basis  for  a  positive  program  of 
extension  of  secondary  education.^' 

In  1890  systematic  inspection  of  schools  made  possible  to  a  greater 
degree  than  hitherto  the  ascertainment  by  the  Regents  of  compliance 
with  the  admission  requirements.*^®  In  1892  the  secretary  called  at- 
tention in  a  series  of  twelve  recommendations  to  the  need  of  revising 
the  practice  as  regards  incorporation.*'^  Among  these  were  the  fol- 
lowing: higher  standards  for  incorporation  of  all  higher  institutions 
including  high  schools,  complete  registration  of  all  such  institutions, 
the  elimination  of  those  which  failed  to  meet  the  requirements  and 
the  recognition  of  the  differences  in  standards  among  the  high 
schools  and  academical  departments  by  some  method  of  grading  or 
classification.  During  the  next  quinquennial  most  of  these  sug- 
gested recommendations  were  carried  out  either  through  legislation 
or  reg-ulations  of  the  Board  of  Reg'ents. 


""Regents  Rep'ts,  1874,  p.  xvi-xvii;  1882,  p.  xiii-xiv;  1885,  p.  13. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1883,  p.  xv-xvi. 

""  Regents  Rep't,  1892,  p.  riQ. 

■"School  Bulletin,  1:37;  revised  in   (1882)    9:43. 

"Regents  Rep'ts,  1890,  p.  13,  30-31;  1891,  p.  18-20;  1900,  p.  178-84. 

'*' Regents  Rep't,  1886,  p.  11-12. 

"'  Regents  Rep't,  1892,  p.  ri5-i9. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  85 

The  most  significant  change  was  wrought  in  the  estabHshment  in 
1894  of  four  grades  of  academies  and  high  schools  according  to 
equipment  and  extent  of  courses.  The  report  of  1892  referred  to 
above  called  attention  to  the  great  contrasts  in  these  institutions  and 
noted  that  the  term  high  school  was  coming  into  use  as  representing 
the  more  advanced  and  progressive  public  secondary  institutions. 
Moreover  it  was  now  seen  that  many  communities  could  not  satis- 
factorily support  a  complete  four-year  high  school  but  that  without 
any  grading  of  schools  they  would  either  attempt  such  a  course  or 
would  give  up  any  effort  at  higher  than  elementary  facilities  with 
consequent  loss  to  the  community.  The  immediate  effect  of  the  ordi- 
nance grading  the  secondary  schools  may  be  seen  in  tables  ii  and 
12.  The  latter  table  also  indicates  the  relative  numbers  of  the  vari- 
ous grades  and  gives  abundant  proof  of  the  justification  of  the  hopes 
expressed  by  the  secretary  as  to  the  development  into  higher  grades 
of  those  entering  in  the  lower.  Table  9  gives  the  principal  features 
of,  the  method  of  grading  or  ranking  as  well  as  the  more  important 
revisions  of  1897  and  1905.''^ 

Table  9 
Admission   requirements   of  the  four   grades  of  secondary  schools 

YEAR     JUNIOR  SCHOOLS        MIDDLE  SCHOOLS       SENIOR  SCHOOLS         HIGH  SCHOOLS 

a  Course  of  Study 

1894  One  yr.   course  or  any  Two  yr.  course Three  yr.  course Four  yr.  course 

12  counts 
1 897  Two  of  1 2  counts  must 

be  English 
190S  Approved     _  one        yr.  Approved        2        yr.  Addit.  hist,  and  Eng.  Addit.  Eng. 
course,      inc.       Eng.,       course,    inc.    addit. 
math.,  and  science  Eng.,     math.,     and 

also  hist. 

b  Library 

1894   Minimum  S200 Minimum  S300 Minimum  $400 Minimum  S500 

1897  As  above  but  with  supplementary  statement  as  to  requisite  reference  books,  etc.,  and  proviso 

that  public  library  facilities  might  count  toward  one-half  of  requirement 
1 90s  As  above.     Renews  statement  of  minimum  values 

c  Apparatus 
1894  "  Whatever   may    be    necessary    for   satisfactorily    teaching   the   subjects    offered    in    the 

curriculum." 
1897  As  above  but  with  supplementary  statement  as  to  requisite  pieces  and  with  stipulation  that 

value  must  be  one-half  of  minimim  library  requirement. 
1903   Minimum  Sioo Minimum  J150 Minimum  $200 Minimum  §250 

The  growing  degree  of  control  brought  about  within  the  first 
decade  which  is  indicated  in  the  above  table  is  also  clearly  seen  in  a 
number  of  additional  features  appearing  in  a  circular  letter  of  the 
secretary's  in  November  1897  and  in  subsequent  minor  revisions  of 
the  Board  of  Regents : "" 


•"Regents  Rep'ts,  1895,  p.  r62-66;  1897,  p.  469;  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1905,  Suppl. 
vol.,  Regents  Revised  Rules,  p.  9. 

•®  Regents  Rep'ts,  1896,  i:  134;  1898,  p.  1-148;  1900,  p.  r63.  1899,  Rep't  H.  S. 
Dep't,  p.  351- 


86  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

(i)  school  must  be  in  session  for  175  days,  (2)  inspector  might  for 
cause  change  grade  of  school  upwards  or  downwards,  (3)  library 
and  equipment  must  be  approved  by  the  inspector  (1897),  also  the 
teaching  stall  (1898),  (4)  high  schools  must  have  a  minimum  of 
two  teachers,  (5)  30-minute  periods  must  be  had  in  all  schools,  (6) 
schools  must  be  union  schools  and  (7)  must  have  at  least  live  aca- 
demical pupils  (1905).  The  phenomenal  growth  in  the  number  of 
high  schools  and  pupils  maintained  in  spite  of  the  seeming  rigor  of 
certain  of  the  requirements  showed  that  there  was  no  longer  any 
doubt  as  to  the  value  of  admission.  The  term  had  become  restricted 
to  the  public  high  schools,  as  the  term  incorporation  to  academies, 
and  like  incorporation  carried  with  it  permanent  membership  in  the 
University  together  with  the  obligation  of  maintaining  the  Univer- 
sity standards.  The  interpretation  of  the  significance  of  admission 
at  the  present  time  is  clearly  seen  in  the  following: 

Admission  to  the  University  confers  on  the  secondary  schools  admitted 
the  right  to  share  in  apportionments,  to  hold  Regents  examinations,  to  inspec- 
tion by  Department  inspectors  without  payment  of  a  fee,  to  representation 
in  the  University  Convocation,  to  certification  of  secondary  school  pupils,  to 
receive  the  Department's  publications,  and  appear  in  the  list  of  approved 
secondary  schools.™ 

4  Establishment  of  High  Schools  in  New  York  State 
Without  compulsory  legal  requirements  and  without  active  pro- 
motion on  the  part  of  the  Regents  previous  to  the  last  decade  of  the 
century,  progress  in  the  establishment  of  high  schools  went  rather 
steadily  forward  until  that  time  after  w^hich  it  progressed  phenom- 
enally. As  with  the  academies  in  the  early  part  of  the  century, 
periods  of  most  rapid  development  numerically  coincide  with  those 
of  increase  of  state  aid.  Tables  10,  11,  12  and  13  give  data  as  to 
the  growth  by  years  and  periods  of  years. 

Table  10  gives  data  for  a  detailed  study  of  high  schools  estab- 
lished before  1881.  This  date  is  chosen  arbitrarily  as  representing 
a  point  at  which  the  high  school  had  with  certainty  come  to  dominate 
the  field  of  secondary  education.  In  the  first  column  appear  the 
names  of  the  schools  with  appropriate  abbreviations  v/here  the  term 
high  school,  free  academy  or  classical  school  was  in  use  in  preference 
to  the  common  term  academical  department.  In  column  2  are  given 
the  years  and  chapters  of  special  acts  of  establishment.  In  column 
3  the  year  is  given  in  which  the  school  first  appeared  either  in  the 
Regents  minutes  or  in  their  annual  reports,  reference  to  which  is 


'"  Ed.  Dep't  Kep't,  1914,  p.   136. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  87 

made  in  column  4.  In  most  cases  these  dates  and  references  cover 
formal  admission  but  in  a  few  cases  in  lieu  of  that,  note  was  found 
simply  of  the  transfer  of  an  academy  or  of  conditional  admission, 
or  the  name  of  the  school  simply  appeared  in  the  schedules  for  that 
year.  The  last  column  gives  pertinent  data,  largely  on  the  merging 
of  academies  into  high  schools. 


88 


THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


Table  io 
High  schools  established  by   1880 


Addison. 
Afton..  . 


Albany  F.  A. 

Albion 

Ames  2 


Angelica^ 

Angola 

Arcade 

Attica  Un.  F.  S.&  A 

Auburn  Acad.  H.  S. 
Avon 


Bainbridge 

Baldwinsville  F.  A. 

Batavia 

Bath-on-the-Hudson 

Belfast 

Binghamton      Cent 

H.  S. 
Brookfield 


SPECIAL 
L.\WS 


f  1866  (444)  I 
\  1873(312)' J 


i866  (176)  \ 
1873  (93)'  i 


1864  (94) 


1 86 1  (322) 


D.\TE   OP 
RECOG- 
NITION   BY 
REGENTS 


Buffalo  Cent.  H.  S. 

Cambridge 

Camden 

Canajoharie .... 

Canaseraga 

Canastota 

Candor  F.  A...  . 

Canton 

Carthage 

Castile 

Catskill  F.  A .  .  . 

Champlain  '' 

Chester 

Clarence  Clas'l  U.  S 

(see  Parker) 

Clarkson  H.  S 

Clyde  H.  S 

Cobleskill 

Cooperstown 

Corning  F.  A 

Deposit 

DeRuyter 

Dryden 

Dunkirk 

fEast)  Henrietta  ^. 
Egberts    H.    S.    (at 

Cohoes) 
Elizabethtown .  . . 

Ellington 

Elmira  F.  A 

Fairport 

Flushing  H.  S 

Forestville  F.  A.  . 
Fort  Covington  A 
Fort  Edward .... 
Franklin       A.       (at 

Malone) 
Franklin      A.      ana 

Prattsburg  U.  S 

Fulton 

Geneva  U.  &  Class'l 
Gloversville 


f  1853  (230    ] 

\  1861(272)1  J 
1873  (671) 


Gowanda 

Greene 

Greenwich 

Griffith  Inst.  &U.  S 

(at  Springville) 
Groton 


1859  (154) 
1876  (332)' 


l8S9  (298) 


1869  (912) 


1859  (113) 

i875'(346y' 

1853  (155) 

1858(370) '1 
1867  (7)'     / 


1833  (252) 

1863  (2S2)' 

'^876 '(93)' 


1869 
1872; 1874 

1873 

1877 
l872(?) 

1868;  1897 
187s 
1870 
1867 
1866 


186S;  1 88 

1874 
1864 
1861 
1876 
1879 
1S61 

1879 
1862 

1873 
1879 
1877 
1880 
1871 
1871 
1868 
1871 
1873 
1868 
1873 
1870 


1873 
1873 
i860 
1876 
1877 
1S73 
1871 
1871 
1869 

1867 
1871 
1863 
1873 
1876 
1867 
1853 
1873 


1870;  1878 


REF.   TO  REGENTS 
MINUTES, 

rep'ts,  etc. 


SPECIAL  FEATURES 


7:317-19. 

8:68,  166. 
8: 125-26. 


i8S4 


1878 
1874 
1868 
1879 

1873 


8:253 

R.    R.     1891,    HI 

16S4 
R.  R.  1S69  xvi 
8:199 

Manual,  1870,  216. 
7: 242-44 

R.  R.  1867,  260..  . 

/  R.  R.,  1869.  366  1 
\  R.  R.,  1882,  xiii  / 
8:  138 
7: 163-64 
7:  46 
8:  220 

8:314 

By-laws,      Bd.      of 
Ed.,  1861 

8:321 

7:65-66 

R.  R.,  1S74,  404.  • 
8:314 

8:  264 

R.  R.,  1881,375 

8:35 

8:3s 

R.  R.,  1S69,  xvi 

8:  59 

8:  125-26 
7:  293 

8:  104 

Manual  1870,  217 


8:  137 

8:  104 

7:  17 

8:  206-7,  235 

8:253 

8:  104 

8:59 

8:59 

7:338,347... 


7:  242-44 

R.  R.,  1872,  350... 

7: 103-4 

8:  104 
8:238 
7: 242-44 

6:61 

8:  120 

R.  R.,  1869,  xvi. .  . 

R.    R.,    1870,    470 

8:  286 
R.  R.,  1881,  379 
6:  91 
8:  12 


8:303 

8:  160 

R.  R.,  1869,  378... 

8:3141  340 


1  Special  acts  placing  under  Regents  visitation. 


8:  120 

'  Not  reporting 


Mer.  Addison  A. 
Dist.  sch.  1872-74 

After  1873,  H.  S. 

Mer.  Albion  A. 
Mer.  Ames  A. 

Mer.  Angelica  A. 

Mer.  Arcade  A. 

Mer.  Auburn  A. 
Mer.  Avon  A. 


Mer.  Genesee  Val.  Sem. 
Mer.  Bing.  A. 

Mer.  Brookfield  A. 

Begin,  in  1846 

Mer.  Cam.  Washington  A. 

Mer.  Canajoharie  A. 


Mer.  Carthage  A. 


Mer.  Champlain  A. 
Mer.  Chester  A. 


Sup't  Rep't,  1870,  249 


Mer.  DeRuyter  Inst. 
Mer.  private  sch. 

Mer.  Monroe  A. 
Endowed     H.      S.; 
Egberts'  Inst. 

Mer.  Ellington  A. 
Mer.  Elmira  A. 


Mer.  Fort  Covington  A. 

Mer.  Franklin  A. 
Mer.  Franklin  A. 


Mer.     Gloversville    Union 

Sem. 
Formerly  Lodi  U.  S. 

Mer.  Union  Village  A. 
Mer.  Griffith  Inst. 

Mer.  Groton  A. 

regularly,  1880  following. 


ESTABLISHMENT   AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS 


89 


SPECIAL 
LAWS 


DATE   OF 
RECOG- 
NITION BY 
REGENTS 


REF.    TO   REGENTS 

MINUTES, 

REP'TS,   ETC. 


SPECIAL  FEATURES 


Hamburg 

Hancock 

Haverling  (at  Bath) 
Holland  Patent .... 

Holley 

Homer  A.  &  U.S... 

Hoosick  Falls 

Hornell  P.  A 

Horseheads 

Huntington 

Ilion 

Ithaca  H.  S 

Jamestown   U.  S.   & 

Collegiate  Inst. 

Johnstown 

Jordan  F.  A 

Keeseville 

Kingston  F.  A 

Leavenworth  F. 

Inst,  (at  Wolcott) 

Limestone 

Lisle 

Little  Falls 


Lockport 

Lyons 

Liverpool 

McGrawv-ille 

Manlius 

Marathon 

Massena 

Mayville 

Medina  F.  A 

Milton  2 

Mora^^a 

Morris 

Morrisville  - 

Mount  Morris 

Naples 

Newark  Un.  F.  Sch, 
New  Berlin 


Newburgh  - 

New  York  F.  A.\ 


Nichols 

North  Tarrytown . . . 

Norwich 

Nunda 

Nyack  ^ 

Ogdensburg  Ed, 

Inst 

Olean 

Oneonta 

Onondaga  F.  A.  (at 

Onondaga  Valley) 
Oswego  H.  S. . . . 
Ovid 


Owego  F.  A 

Painted  Post 

Palatine  Bridge .  .  .  . 
Palmyra  Class'l  Sch. 
Parker  Class'l  Sch . . 


Penn  Yan 

Perry 

Phelps  U.  &  Class'l 
Sch. 

Phoenix 

Plattsburg 

Port  Byron  F.  A .  .  . 
Port  Henry 


1863  (459) 


1873  (155) 
1864  (529) 

1873  (386) 

1S57'  (387)' 

1874  (123) 


1867  (43) 


1863  (360) 
1864(40,318) 


1847  *'Si)  \ 
1850  (77)1  i 
1855  (550) 


1880  (20S) 


1850  (321) 
1872  (874) 


1867  (820) 
1866  (727) 


1853  (118)  1 
1865  (88)1  J 
1847  (206) 


f  1857  (382)  1 
1  1881  (70)1  j 

1866  i&ig) 

1869  (6) 
'i857(296V 


1857(764) 
1855(553) 


1865  (458) 
1867  (810) 
1857  (305) 


1870 
187S 
1868 
1S71 
1868 
1873 
1863 
1874 
1877 
1863 
1872 
1876 
1 866 


1 868 
1869 
186& 
1859 

1870 
1873 
1S73 
1S50 

1857 
1877 
1867 
1879 
1879 
1871 
1868 
1851 


8:  2 

8:  294 

7:  307 

8:  59 

R.  R.,  1869,  371. 

8:  125-26 

7:  273 

8:  157 
8:  264 

7:103-4 

S:  87 

8:  230,  235 

R.  R.,  1867,  265. 

R.  R.,  1870,347. 
R.  R.,  1869,371. 
R.  R.,  1870,  469. 

7:  20S 

6:  400 


8:314 
8:  120 
R.  R.,  1874,  402. 

5  (MSS):42  5 

6:  292 
8:  264 
R.  R.,  1868,  274. 

8:348 

8:314 

8:50 

7:317;  8:8 

5  (MSB):  484 


1869 

1875 


I8S9 
1880 
1863 
1880 

(1891) 

1849 

1873 
1S77 
1873 
1878 
1869 
i860; 1882 
1870 
1874 
1868 

iSS9 
1S73 

1869 
1878 
1S60 
185S 
18O9 

i860 
1870 

1857 

1875 
1868 
i860 
1878 


R.  R.,  1870,  366... 
8:  206 

6:38s 

R.  R.,  1881,  403.., 

7:  114 

R.  R.,  1881,  376 
Sup't  Rep't,  1863 

289 
5  (MSS):335,  360- 

61 
R.  R.,  1874,  412 
8:  254.  320 
R.  R.  1874,  412.  . 

8:  294 

R.  R.,  1870,  xii 

R.  R.,  1861,  172.. 

Manual  1870,  220 

8:  166 

R.  R.,  1869,  xvi.  . 

6:385 

8:  104 


R.  R.  1870,  470 

8:  303 

7:  26-27 

6:  342 

R.  R.,  1870,  469. 

7:  2 

R.  R.,  1S71,  369. 

6:  290 


8:  206 

R.  R.,  1869,  373. 
7:  4;  0:  408 
8:  294 


Mer.  Holley  A. 
Mer.  Cortland  A. 
Mer.  Balls'  Sem. 


Endowed  H.  S. 

Mer.  Ithaca  A. 

Mer.    Jamestown    Colleg. 

Inst. 
Mer.  Johnstown  A. 
Mer.  Jordan  A. 
Mer.  Keeseville  A. 
Mer.  Kingston  A. 
Endowed  school 


Mer.  A.  of  Little  Falls 


Mer.  N.  Y.  Cent.  A. 
Mer.  Manlius  A. 
Mer.  Marathon  A. 

Mer.  Mayville  A. 

Mer.  Ballston  A. 
Mer.  Moravia  Inst. 


Mer.  Naples  A. 

See  Sup't  Rep't,  1843,  394 

Mer.  Newburgh  A. 

N.  Y.  City  College 


Mer.  Norwich  A. 
Mer.  Nunda  A. 

Mer.  Ogdensburg  A.     Re- 

org.  1882  as  F.  A. 
Mer.  Olean  A. 

Mer.  Onondaga  A. 


Mer.   Genesee   Conference 

Sem. 
Mer.  Owego  A. 


Also   Clarence;   mer.    Cla- 
rence A.     Endowed 

Mer.  Perry  A. 


Sup't  Rep't,  1867,  237 
Mer.  Plattsburg  A. 


1  Special  acts  placing  under  Regents  visitation. 


2  Not  reporting  regularly,  1880  following. 


90 


THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


SPECIAL 
LAWS 


DATE  OF 
RECOG- 
NITION  BY 
REGENTS 


REF.    TO   REGENTS 

MINUTES, 

rep'ts,  etc. 


SPECIAL  features 


Port  Jervis 

Poughkeepsie 

Pulaski  A 

Rhinebeck 

Richburg2 

Rochester  F.  A 

Rome  F.  A 

Rushford 

Rushville 

Sag  Harbor  Insf^. ., 

Sandy  Creek 

Sandy  Hill 

Saratoga  Springs .  .  . 
Schenectady         Un. 

Classical  Inst. 

Schenevus 

Schoharie 

Schuylerville 

Seneca  Falls  F.  A. . . 
Seymour  Smith .  .  .  . 

(at  Pine  Plains) 

Sherburne 

Sherman 

Silver  Creek 

Skaneateles 

Smithville 

Spencer 

Spencertown  ^ 

Syracuse  H.  S 

Ten  Broeck  F.  A .  .  . 

(at    Franklinville) 

Tonawanda 

Troy  H.  S 

Trumansburg 

Ulster  F.  A 

(at  Rondout) 
Utica  F.  A 

Vernon 

Wallkill 

(at  Middletown) 

Walton 

Warrensburg 

Warsaw 

Warwick  F.  Inst.  .  . 
Washington  (F.)  A. 

(at  Salem) 

Waterf  ord 

Waterloo 

Watertown  II.  S 

Waterville 

Watkins  Acad.  U.  S. 

Waverly 

Weedsport 

Westchester    U.    S. 

No.  I 
Westchester    U.    S. 

No.  3 

Westfield 

West  Hebron 

Westport 

Whitehall 

Whitney's  Point. . . . 

Wilson 

Windsor 

Woodhull 

Yates 

(at     Chittenango) 


1870  (16) 
i8S3  (30s) 

'1861' (143)' 


1862  (441) 


1867  (353) 
1854  (178) 


1867  (389) 
1864  (IS) 


1848(238) 
1860(357)' 
1862  (353) 
1868(162)1 


1853  (272) 
1865  (376) 


1851  (206) 


18SS  (238) 
186S  (520) 


1863  (69) 
1858  (212) 


1868 
187s 

1858 
1874 
1870 
1862 
1867 

1869 
1871 
1877 


1873 
1871 
1868 
1856 

1880 
1873 
1878 
1868 
1874;  1879 

1867 
1874 
1880 
1868 
1879 
i87S 
1873 


1877 
1863 
1879 


1S53 
1877 


1871 
(1877) 

18SS 
1868 
I8S3 

1871 
I8S5 
1866 
1874 
1864 
1872 
1873 
1877 

1878 


1870 
1867 
1873 
1868 
1870 
1868 
1879 
1872;  1873 


7:  303 

R.  R.,  1876,  348... 

6:  342 

8:  138 

8:  12 

7:  84-8S 

Sup't  Rep't,  1904 
549 

8:  12 

R.  R.,  1872,  357 
8:  253 


8:  125-26 
8:  59 
7:  303 
6:  287-88 

R.  R..  1881,  379 

8:  125-26 

8:  298 

R.  R.,  1869,377. 
Hough, 704 


Sup't  Rep't,  1865,  264. 
Mer.      A.      of      Dutchess 
County 

Mer.  Rhinebeck  A. 
Mer.  Richburg  A. 
Organized  1857. 
Mer.  Rome  A. 

Mer.  Rushford  A. 

Mer.  Sag  Harbor  Inst. 
Later  endowed  as  Pier- 
son  H.  S. 


Mer.  Schoharie  A. 
Mer.  Schuylerville  A. 
Mer.  Seneca  Falls  A. 
Endowed  school 


7:  275-76 Mer.  Sherburne  A. 

164 Mer.  Sherman  A. 

R.  R.,  1881,  375 

7:  303 Mer.  Skaneateles  A. 

8:  340 
8:  199 
R.  R.,  1874,  416... I  Mer.  Spencertown  A. 

7:  65-66 


R.  R.,  1869,  419.. 
8:  264 
7:  103-4 

8:313 

R.  R.,  1880,  369 

Utica        Directory 
1853.  1854. 

8:253 

R.  R.  1869,  16 


Manual  1870,  222.. 
Sup't   Rep't    1878 

344 
6:  168 

Hough, 719 

Hough,  719-21. .  .  . 


8:  59 

6:219 

7:  209 

8:  164 

R.  R.,  1877,  708.. 

8:  68 

8:  104 

8:  264 


8:  298 


R.,  1869,  379- 
R.,  1871,351 

242-44 

120 

303 

38 

R.,  1869,  380. 

340 

90,  104 


Endowed  school 

Mer.  Trumansburg  A. 

Mer.  Utica  A. 

Mer.  Vernon  A. 
Mer.  Wallkill  A. 

Mer.  Walton  A. 


Mer.  Warwick  Inst. 
Mer.  Washington  A.;  par- 
tial to  1905 
Mer.  Watorford  A. 
Mer.  Waterloo  A. 
Mer.  Jefferson  Co.  Inst. 

Mer.  Watkins  A. 
Mer.  Waverly  Inst. 
Mer.  Weedsport  A. 


Mer.  Westfield  A. 


Mer.  Whitehall  A. 

Mer.  Wilson  0)11.  Inst. 
Mer.  Windsor  A. 
Mer.  Woodhull  A. 
Mer.     Yates     Polytechnic 
Inst. 


1  Special  acts  placing  under  Regents  visitation. 


Not  reporting  regularly,  1880  following. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  9I 

Of  the  nearly  two  hundred  schools  given  in  table  lo,  the  great 
majority  were  bona  fide  institutions.  The  number  reporting  in  1880 
is  approximately  90  per  cent  as  opposed  to  the  number  of  incorpo- 
rated and  unmerged  academies  reporting,  namely  about  30  per  cent 
(see  table  12).  A  few  were  nonreporting  in  the  decade  following 
but  high  schools  grew  up  in  most  of  these  same  communities  before 
the  end  of  the  century. 

In  the  majority  of  cases  the  individual  histories  have  been  traced 
out.  The  reports  of  the  school  commissioners  in  the  annual  reports 
of  the  State  Superintendent  through  a  large  part  of  this  period 
proved  a  most  useful  supplement  to  the  reports  and  minutes  of  the 
Board  of  Regents.  It  has  been  comparatively  difficult  to  ascertain 
the  exact  date  of  establishment,  inasmuch  as  in  most  cases  growth 
was  steady  and  slow,  beginning  with  some  slight  strengthening  of 
the  curriculum  of  the  consolidation  of  districts  or  classes  of  older 
pupils  long  before  the  definite  organization  of  a  high  school.  More- 
over the  lack  of  any  legal  requirement  or  legal  terminology  as  was 
the  case  with  Massachusetts,  coupled  with  the  great  diversity  of 
terms  applied  to  public  secondary  schools  adds  another  type  of  dif- 
ficulty. In  fact  for  a  considerable  period  the  annual  Regents  reports 
grouped  well-known  public  high  schools  with  academies  because 
they  bore  that  name.  In  addition  the  records  of  the  Regents  as  to 
dates  of  establishment  often  proved  contradictory  or  unverifiable. 
The  larger  number  of  schools  recorded  for  the  years  1868  and  1873 
is  in  part  no  doubt  due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  successive  reports  of 
these  years  an  eflfort  was  made  to  summarize  the  individual  histories 
of  the  schools  briefly  in  a  definite  schedule  or  table.  The  term 
recognition  is  used  instead  of  admission  in  column  3  of  table  10 
because  of  the  appearance  of  schools  in  these  schedules  without  other 
note  in  the  minutes  or  in  the  body  of  the  annual  reports.  On  the 
whole  it  seems  that  the  variety  of  references  used  check  each  other 
in  such  a  way  as  to  give  a  high  degree  of  certainty  as  to  the  dates 
given.  This  is  even  more  true  of  the  general  development  by  quin- 
quennial periods  indicated  in  table  12. 

In  table  11  is  given  a  summary  of  the  establishment  of  schools 
previous  to  1881  based  directly  on  table  10.  In  addition  the  con- 
trast is  more  clearly  brought  out  regarding  the  relative  numbers 
formed  directly  in  connection  with  the  elementary  common  school 
system  and  those  formed  by  merger  with  existing  academies.  A 
great  deal  of  irregularity  is  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  second 
group:  the  building  was.  for  instance,  in  some  cases  sold  to  the 


92 


THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


board  of  education  and  used  for  elementary  classes,  or  academic  and 
public  elementary  classes  might  be  taught  in  the  same  building  with- 
out formal  transfer,  or  the  building  might  be  leased  in  whole  or  in 
part,  or  a  joint  board  consisting  of  the  academy  trustees  and  the 
board  of  education  might  govern  certain  matters.  Again  amalgama- 
tion might  be  extended  through  a  considerable  period  of  years 
through  differences  of  opinion  and  even  litigation  as  to  the  best 
adjustment  of  relationships.  The  fear  that  academic  property  might 
be  used  for  other  purposes  than  that  for  which  it  was  intended  was 
the  source  of  numerous  special  acts.  The  figures  offered  here  as 
in  the  foregoing  table  dift'er  somewhat  from  the  Regents  estimates ; 
for  example,  a  careful  study  of  sources  indicates  17  academical  de- 
partments in  i860  as  against  ii  reported;  and  68  in  1869,  of  which 
39  were  formed  by  merger  as  against  53  and  23  reported  respect- 
ively."^ 

Table  it 
Summary  of  high  schools  established  by  1880 


DENOVO     MERGED        TOTAL 


DE  NOVO     MERGED 


1849. 

1850. 
1851. 
1852. 
1853. 
1854. 


1857. 
I8S8. 

I8S9. 
i860. 
1861. 
1862. 
1863. 
1864. 


I 

3  3 
I 

r  2 
I 
I 
2 
3 

2       S 

I  3 
2 


1866 

1867 

1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 

Totals 


86 


4 
7 
23 
9 
9 


7 
174 


While  there  are  numerous  exceptions,  the  earlier  schools  on  the 
whole  developed  in  the  larger  centers  of  population  in  which  the 
common  schools  early  reached  a  relatively  high  degree  of  develop- 
ment (see  table  6).  A  few  instances  will  make  the  significance  of 
the  preceding  statement  more  apparent.  In  the  city  of  Syracuse, 
incorporated  by  the  union  of  three  villages  in  1847,  a  board  of  edu- 
cation with  powers  of  establishing  and  maintaining  a  high  school  was 
legalized  in  1848,"^  and  when  organized  took  over  the  11  districts 


"  Regents  Rep'ts,  i860,  p.  7 ;  1869,  p.  xvi-x\  ii. 
"Laws  of  1848,  chap.  238. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  93 

already  established.'^  A  clerk  was  appointed  with  duties  similar  to 
a  superintendent,  reports  were  published  from  time  to  time  and  in 
1850  a  uniform  list  of  textbooks  was  adopted  which  included 
algebra,  chemistry  and  drawing.'*  In  1854  a  principal  of  one  of 
the  larger  schools  was  appointed  together  with  an  assistant  to  teach 
a  high  school  in  rented  quarters."'^  Through  a  special  act  of  i860 
the  "  higher  departments  of  the  common  school,  .  .  .  known  as 
the  high  schools"  were  placed  under  the  Regents  in  i86i.^^  In 
Buffalo  the  foundations  of  a  school  system  were  laid  by  special  acts 
of  1837  and  1838  and  the  school  board  was  empowered  to  divide 
the  schools  into  higher  and  lower  departments.'^^  By  1840  the  larger 
schools  were  divided  into  eight  classes  and  many  of  the  higher  Eng- 
lish branches  were  being  taught. '^^  By  1846  these  classes  in  some  of 
the  stronger  schools  had  been  collected  into  two  departments  and  a 
third  or  higher  department  was  established  which  had  been  urged  by 
the  superintendents  since  1843."'*  An  act  of  1853  authorized  the 
establishment  of  a  central  high  school,^"  and  a  building  was  com- 
pleted in  the  following  year.  In  1861  the  school  was  placed  under 
the  visitation  of  the  Regents  and  received  state  aid.  Similarly  in 
Rochester  before  the  establishment  of  the  free  school  system  in  1841, 
some  of  the  stronger  district  schools  were  offering  higher  branches, 
one  at  least  Latin  and  French.^^  In  1857  a  central  high  school  was 
established ;  in  1862  it  was  admitted  under  special  act  and  became 
known  as  the  Rochester  Free  Academy. ^^  In  Oswego  the  high 
school  was  formed  as  the  highest  of  four  departments  under  a 
special  act  providing  for  a  city  school  system  in  1853.^^  It  was  ad- 
mitted in  1859.  In  Utica  and  Poughkeepsie  high  schools  were 
formed  by  the  adoption  of  the  local  academies. 

Table  12  gives  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  whole  high 
school  movement.  The  relative  numbers  of  academies  and 
high  schools  admitted  into  the  University,  or  received  under 
visitation,  by  quinquennials  from  1836  when  the  academy  move- 
ment  was   at    its   height   to    1910   are    shown    in    parallel    columns 


"  Smith,  Edward,  History  of  the   Schools  of  Syracuse,  p.  46-47. 

'Mbid.,  p.  66. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  78,  83,  88. 

"  Laws  of  i860,  chap.  357 ;  Smith,  op.  cit.,  p.  266-67. 

"Laws  of  1837,  chap.  392;  1838,  chap.  63.     See  table  6. 

"  Assembly  Documents,   1840,  no.  307. 

'•  Sup't  Rep't,  1863,  p.  125-26. 

^''Laws  of  1853,  chap.  230. 

"  Assembly  Documents,  1840,  no.  307. 

"Laws  of  1861,  chap.  143;  Sup't  Rep't,  1863,  p.  118-20. 

'"Laws  of  1853,  diap.  119;  Sup't  Rep't,  1866,  p.  257. 


94  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

with  the  respective  numbers  of  the  two  types  of  institutions  report- 
ing to  the  Regents  in  the  years  completing  the  quinquennial  periods. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  the  academy  movement  had  been  under 
way  a  half  century  before  the  table  begins.  Miller  finds  83  acad- 
emies before  1836.'**  His  figures  differ  slightly  as  to  the  numbers 
exhibited  in  table  12,  due  principally  to  slight  diff'erences  in  interpre- 
tation. In  this  report,  such  endowed  schools  as  Ten  Broeck  Free 
Academy,  Seymour  Smith  Academy  and  Leavenworth  Institute  as 
well  as  a  few  schools  where  control  was  divided  between  a  board  of 
trustees  and  the  board  of  education  have  been  groviped  with  the  high 
schools  as  they  seemed  to  be  characterized  by  the  same  tendency  to- 
ward public  free  secondary  education.  The  figures  of  the  annual 
reports  of  the  Regents  differ  markedly.  In  the  main  this  is  due  to 
the  failure  to  discriminate  between  schools  alike  in  name,  that  is 
termed,  for  example,  academy,  but  quite  unlike  in  control  and  pur- 
pose. The  errors  were  repeated  year  after  year.  From  1890  on  a 
small  number  of  consolidations,  for  example  in  the  suburbs  of  New 
York  City,  were  made  and  no  attempt  is  made  to  take  account  of  that 
fact  in  this  table.  It  is  significant  that  the  first  period  of  marked 
growth  in  the  high  school  movement  is  the  decade  following  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War  and  is  brought  to  a  climax  by  a  special  effort 
to  secure  aid  in  larger  measure  for  the  secondary  system  in  1873. 
Then  a  period  of  fifteen  years  follows  in  which  growth  was  relatively 
slow  numerically  but  in  which  the  system  as  a  whole  was  being 
strengthened  and  centralized,  followed  by  a  like  period  wherein  the 
growth  in  number  of  schools  was  phenomenal  and  the  opportunities 
of  secondary  education  were  extended  to  the  great  body  of  villages 
and  smaller  communities  of  the  State  as  formerly  to  the  cities  and 
Ihe  larger  villages.  A  factor  in  the  slow  growth  from  1875  to  1890 
was  the  fact  that  before  this  the  high  school  movement  had  been 
extended  by  half  through  the  mergers  of  academies  (see  table  11) 
while  after  this  the  number  of  such  mergers  was  relatively  insignif- 
icant. It  should  perhaps  be  added  that  the  period  of  new  growth  in 
the  old-line  academy  at  the  very  end  of  the  century  was  due  to  the 
development  of  new  types  of  schools,  principally  business  schools 
and  church  institutions  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  In  the  above 
table  as  in  the  study  as  a  whole  no  account  is  taken  of  the  academical 
departments  of  normal  schools  which  provided  facilities  for  a  con- 
siderable number  of  children  who  were  residents  in  the  communities. 
The  omission  is  due  to  lack  of  data  and  to  the  fact  that  the  function 
of  these  schools  was  different  from  that  of  the  high  school  proper. 

"Op.  cit. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS 


95 


Table  12 
Academies  and  high  schools  admitted  and  reporting,   1836-1910 


ADMISSIONS  BY 
QUINQUENNIALS 


Acade- 
mies 


High 
schools 


SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 
REPORTING 


Acade- 


High 
schools 


1836-40. . 
1841-45. . 
1846-so .  . 
1851-55.  . 
1856-60. . 
1861-65.  . 
1866-70.  . 
1871-75.  . 
1876-80.  . 
1881-85.  . 
1886-90. . 
1891-95. • 
1896-1900 
1901-05.. 
1906-10. . 


52 

50 

39 

32 

40 

165 

184 

III 

42 


1840 
184s 
1850 
18SS 
i860 
1865 
1870 
187s 
1880 
i88s 
1890 
1895 
1900 
1 90s 
1910 


141 

153 

162 

157 

170 

168 

122 

95 

84 

70 

lOI 

131 
140 
138 
164 


22 
34 
73 
121 
IS6 
191 
234 
373 
565 
66s 
700 


The  marked  increase  in  the  number  of  high  schools  from  1893  on 
was  due^  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  twofold  policy  of  bringing  up  the 
standards  of  the  schools,  both  reporting  and  nonreporting,  and  of 
encouraging  the  establishment  of  less  than  four-year  schools.  Two 
years  were  given  for  the  adoption  of  the  standards  of  grading  set  in 
1894  (see  table  9).  As  a  supplement  to  table  12,  and  with  a  view  to 
setting  forth  the  significance  of  the  method  of  grading,  table  13  gives 
data  showing  the  numbers  of  schools  of  each  grade  for  different 
years  from  1896  to  1912.^^ 

Table  13 

Secondary  schools  reporting,   1896-1912,  classified  by  grades 

(Academical  departments  of  public  schools  only) 


HIGH 
SCHOOLS 


SENIOR 
SCHOOLS 


MIDDLE 
SCHOOLS 


JUNIOR 
SCHOOLS 


Jan.   I,  1896" 

Oct.   21,  1896 

June  30,  1897 

Dec.  22,  1897 

Dec.  16,  1898 

Nov.  17,  1899 

Nov.    9,  1900 

1903 

1906 

1909 

1912 


I2S 

214 
247 
253 

279' 
311 ' 
338 
393 
434 
46s 
S09 


19 

34 

26 

24 

286 

30 

3S 

S4 

60 
122 
106 


36 

43 

SO 

51 

67 

6x1" 

63 

60 

52 

34 

38 


106 

137 
140 
158 
146 
137' 
124 
126 
122 
66 
65 


2972 
430' 
46s' 

487' 

522' 

S4I' 
S62» 
633 
668 
687 
72s 


1  Schools  admitted  previous  to  Feb.  8,  1894. 
schools.         » Including  two  special  schools, 
respectively,  25,  3,  I7i  21,  33,  i,  4,  14- 


2  Including  9  schools  below  grade  and  two  special 
*-»  Number   deficient  in  library  and  apparatus, 


"Resents  Rep'ts,  1898,  p.  Tg2;  1899,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  361;  1900,  Rep't 
H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  r20 ;  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1914,  p.  856. 


96  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

In  the  decade  from  1889  to  1898,  the  number  of  pubUc  secondary 
schools  had  increased  two  and  one-half  times.  The  classification  of 
1896  had  placed  considerably  over  one-half  of  the  schools  in  other 
than  the  high  school  class  but  there  was  rapid  advancement  from 
grade  to  grade  so  that  the  number  of  high  schools  doubled  from  Jan- 
uary I,  1896  to  June  1897.  Of  278  junior  schools  entering  in  the  years 
1893  to  1901  forming  about  S=,  per  cent  of  entering  pubHc  secondary 
schools,  74  had  by  the  end  of  the  period  become  high  schools,  26 
had  become  senior  schools  and  40,  middle  schools.**"  Naturally  such 
rapid  growth  meant  a  failure  to  rise  to  and  maintain  adequate  stand- 
ards, until  the  Regents  system  of  inspection  was  v/ell  organized. 
Schools  of  junior  rank  were  reported  to  be  attempting  to  give  the 
full  four-year  course.®'  A  summary  for  1893  of  the  status  of  the 
ten  lowest  and  ten  highest  of  the  academical  departments  in  the 
several  items  on  which  annual  reports  were  made  showed  much 
greater  variability  among  them  than  among  the  academies  and  re- 
vealed the  fact  that  the  average  number  of  pupils  of  the  ten  lowest 
was  8  while  they  had  but  one  teacher  each ;  74  others  had  but  two 
teachers  each.®*  In  1900  the  average  number  of  pupils  for  the  same 
group  was  ten  and  the  number  of  schools  having  one  teacher  had 
increased  to  35.'''''  In  the  meantime  low  standards  of  equipment  were 
reported  in  a  large  number  of  schools  (see  footnotes  4-1 1,  table  13) 
until  the  low  mark  in  1900,  when  66  schools  were  found  deficient  in 
required  articles  of  library  or  apparatus.""  Despite  the  rapid  cor- 
rection of  the  matter  by  the  Board  of  Regents,  the  Department  of 
Public  Instruction  in  the  annual  reports  of  1903  and  1904,  at  a  time 
of  much  rivalry  and  even  open  hostility  between  the  two  depart- 
ments, claimed  that  schools  existed  without  academic  pupils  and 
sought  to  discredit  the  work  of  the  Regents,  claiming  that  they 
sought  to  extend  their  control  over  the  whole  educational  system.^^ 

5  Factors  Conditioning  the  Development  of  High  Schools 

In  the  two  preceding  sections  we  have  traced  the  growth  of  a  body 

of  practice  regarding  the  admission  of  public  secondary  schools  into 

The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  have  traced  the  actual 

development  of  these  schools.     It  remains  to  note  those  factors  that 

'*  Regents  Rep't,  1902,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  ns;  1904,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't, 
i:ri4-i6. 

*^  Regents  Rep't,  1900,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  rig;  cf.  Ed.  Dep  t  Rep  t,  1905, 
p.  259. 

■^  Regents  Rep  t,  1894,  p.  r2s6-S7- 

*•  Regents  Rep't,  1900,  p.  r56-57- 

•"Regents  Rep't,  1901,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't.  p.  ri8. 

"  Sup't  Rep't,  1903,  p.  xii-xiii,  xxvii ;  1904,  P-  xxxii-xxxvii. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF   HIGH    SCHOOLS  97 

brought  about  the  development  of  a  highly  centralized  system  of 
secondary  education,  which  has  made  New  York  typical  of  that 
group  of  states  w^ierein  educational  policies  have  been  to  a  very 
large  extent  initiated  and  directed  by  the  State  Department.  Suc- 
cessive chapters  deal  with  the  more  significant  lines  of  development 
of  state  control  of  secondary  education,  namely,  distribution  of 
state  aid,  reporting  and  inspection,  and  the  system  of  examinations  in 
academic  and  preacademic  subjects.  In  this  section  factors  that 
entered  in  to  condition  the  otherwise  more  rapid  growth  of  high 
schools  will  be  treated  as  follows :  the  character  of  the  union  free 
school  law,  the  slow  growth  of  the  tendency  toward  centralization 
in  the  lower  schools,  the  intrenchment  of  the  academy  system  and 
the  tardy  acceptance  of  the  "  free  high  school  idea." 

a  Character  of  the  Union  Free  School  Law.  We  have  seen  that 
before  the  middle  of  the  century  it  had  come  to  be  rather  generally 
appreciated  that  public  secondary  school  facilities  could  not  be 
offered  even  in  the  large  communities  with  advantage  except  through 
the  consolidation  of  districts  and  the  consequent  extension  of  the 
unit  of  taxation  and  control  and  the  consequent  increase  in  number 
of  pupils  and  teachers.  Therefore  following  the  experimentation  of 
the  larger  villages  and  cities  in  some  number,  the  union  free  school 
act  of  1853  was  framed  to  encourage  and  stimulate  this  tendency. 
The  law,  however,  and  its  successive  amendments  were  permissive  in 
nature  and,  although  intended  to  prevent  the  continuance  of  special 
legislation,  seemed  rather  to  foster  this  in  the  first  decade.^-  Ques- 
tions of  legal  interpretation  proved  very  serious  and  included  the 
following  matters:  (i)  doubt  as  to  whether  in  the  case  of  unincor- 
porated villages  or  rural  districts  the  board  of  education  had  any 
power  to  levy  taxes  or  whether  it  must  wait  upon  a  majority  or  two- 
thirds  vote  of  the  inhabitants ;  (2)  failure  of  the  act  to  make  specific 
provision  for  the  disuse  of  the  rate  bill  although  the  evident  intent 
of  the  law  was  sucli ;  (3)  the  lack  of  guaranty  of  continued  privileges 
beyond  a  period  of  five  years  to  the  annual  state  apportionment  of 
common  school  moneys  which  was  made  on  the  basis  of  the  number 
of  districts ;  (4)  lack  of  provision  for  the  dissolution  of  union  school 
districts  in  case  the  taxpayers  v,-ere  displeased  with  consolidation,  an 
evident  source  of  hesitation  to  undertake  consolidation.^^  The  first 
difficulty  was  in  part   remedied  by  an   amendment  of   1863,^*  the 


*^  Sup't  Rep't,    1856,  p.   19;   cf.   the  great  number  of   special   acts   creating 
union  schools  or  city  and  village  systems. 
•^  Sup't  Rep'ts,  particularly,   1856,  p.  19-20;   i860,  p.   15. 
"  Laws  of  1863,  chap.  328. 

4 


98  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

second  and  third  were  made  clear  by  the  consolidated  law  of  1864,®^ 
and  the  fourth  by  a  special  act  of  1880.^*^ 

Complete  and  accurate  data  are  lacking  as  to  the  establishment  of 
union  schools.  The  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  reported 
after  the  lapse  of  two  and  one-half  years  that  25  districts  had  been 
organized  under  the  law.^'  Within  the  first  decade,  that  is  by  1864, 
there  appear  to  have  been  120  union  schools  in  existence,  including 
those  established  under  special  acts  but  not  the  city  systems.^''  Oc- 
casional summaries  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  State  Superintend- 
ent, always  without  substantiating  data,  are  as  follows:  1870,  250 
schools  under  the  act;  1884,  365  schools  under  the  act  and  65  under 
special  acts;  1893,  503  under  the  act  as  opposed  to  10,667  common 
district  schools  and  615  schools  within  about  40  city  systems;  1905, 
690  union  free  school  districts,  all  by  this  time  operating  in  most 
features  under  the  general  act.^"  It  seems  probable  from  these  data 
that  the  movement  was  comparatively  uniform  with  perhaps  the 
greatest  relative  growth  in  the  decade  following  the  act  of  1864.  In 
this  period  the  attention  of  the  school  commissioners  and  the  State 
Superintendents  was  centered  more  largely  upon  this  issue  than  upon 
other  problems  that  tended  to  be  of  larger  concern  later.  In  the 
reports  of  both,  the  comments  were  made  upon  the  successful  estab- 
lishment of  individual  schools  and  such  advantages  as  the  following 
were  repeatedly  pointed  out ;  adequate  grading  and  classification  of 
pupils,  better  equalization  of  the  burden  of  taxation,  gain  in  the 
efificiency  of  the  organization  of  the  schools  and  progress  toward 
free  schools  throughout  the  State. ^  The  reasons  for  the  compara- 
tively slow  development  of  union  schools  in  so  far  as  they  are  not 
suggested  in  the  present  discussion  will  further  be  seen  in  the  two 
following  sections. 

b  Slow  grozi'th  of  ccntralhation  in  the  common  school  system. 
At  the  time  of  the  initiation  of  the  high  school  movement  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  lower  schools  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Secretan^ 
of  State.     Furthermore  the  county  unit  of  organization  had  been 


*'Laws  of  1864,  chap.  555,  title  ix. 

"Laws  of  1880,  chap.  514. 

"  Sup't  Rep't,  1856.  p.  19. 

"Compiled  from  the  tollowiiii.;  sources:  Sup't  Rep't,  1863-65  (annual 
reports  of  school  commissioners  appended  in  full  "r  in  nart )  ;  Laws  of  Kcw 
York,  1846-64;  French,  Gazeteer  of  the  State  of  New  York,  i86c. 

'^  Sup't  Rep't.  1870,  p.  22-23,  60;  1S71.  p.  25-26;  1884,  p.  41-4^;  1893.  P-  7- 
Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1905,  p.  41. 

'Sup't  Rep'ts,  1855,  p.  12;  1856.  p.  20;  1868.  p.  59;  1869,  p.  20.  The  Report 
of  1862  (p.  16)   favored  making  the  act  compulsory  under  certain  limitations. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  99 

falteringly  tried  and  abandoned  and  the  effort  to  establish  a  system 
of  free  schools  throughout  the  State  had  failed  to  carry  with  it  the 
abolition  of  the  "  odious  rate  bill  "  and  therefore  had  only  partially 
accomplished  its  purpose.  This  section  aims  to  trace  some  of  the 
more  important  steps  toward  such  centralization  of  control  and  sup- 
port by  the  State  as  was  essential  before  the  lower  schools  could 
attain  a  degree  of  effectiveness  such  as  would  promote  adequate 
secondary  school  developments. 

The  first  important  step  in  this  direction  other  than  the  union 
school  law  of  1853  was  an  act  of  1854  providing  for  the  creation  of 
the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  which  had  been 
demanded  by  the  friends  of  education  as  a  means  to  increased 
efficiency  of  the  schools  and  the  lessening  of  political  control."  This 
was  soon  followed  by  the  establishment  of  the  office  of  school  com- 
missioner. These  officers  elected  within  assembly  districts  were 
given  large  powers  of  examination  of  teachers,  and  supervision  and 
inspection  of  schools.  They  were,  however,  required  to  make  an- 
nual reports  to  the  State  Superintendent,  could  be  removed  by  him 
for  cause  and  were  consequently  in  part  paid  out  of  the  income  of 
the  United  States  deposit  fund.^  In  the  same  year.  1856,  the  annual 
state  tax  for  the  lower  schools  of  $800,000  was  changed  to  a  three- 
fourths  mill  tax,*  and  in  1867  the  rate  bill  was  abolished.  Moreover 
an  act  of  1856  and  the  consolidation  act  of  1864  changed  the  distribu- 
tion of  state  school  moneys  from  the  basis  of  the  district  to  that 
of  the  teacher. 

Following  these  very  significant  steps  toward  state  control  and 
a  more  equitable  and  stimulating  method  of  state  support,  bills  were 
passed  in  1866  and  1867  supplementing  the  single  state  normal  school 
at  Albany  created  in  1844  with  five  additional  normal  schools  in 
various  parts  of  the  State, ^  thus  paving  the  way  for  a  definite  state 
policy  in  the  preparation  of  its  teachers.  In  the  decade  of  the 
seventies,  there  were  passed  three  acts  providing  for  a  greater  degree 
of  state  direction  in  school  matters:  (O  a  compulsory  school  attend- 
ance act,  which  was  largely  ineffective  because  machinery  adequate 
for  enforcement  was  not  provided.®  (2)  an  act  providing  for  a  sys- 
tem of  state  examinations  of  candidates  for  teachers  life  certificates 


*Laws  of  1854,  chap.  97.     For  discussions,  see  Randall,  op.  cit.,  p.  51,  loi, 
105  :  New  York  Teacher,  i  :21s,  351-52,  363  ;  Assembly  Documents,  1854,  no.  39. 
'Laws  of   1856,  chap.   179- 
*  Laws  of  1856,  chap.  180. 
"Laws  of  1866,  chap.  466;  1867,  chap.  583. 
'Laws  of  1874.  chap.  421. 


lOO  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

instead  of  the  method  of  recommendation  then  in  vogue,"  and  (3) 
an  act  enabling  local  boards  of  trustees  or  of  education  to  adopt  uni- 
form textbooks  for  periods  of  five  years. ^ 

Just  as  the  first  and  second  quarters  of  the  century  had  seen  the 
laying  of  the  foundations  of  the  common  public  school  system  and 
the  third  had  seen  the  experimental  efforts  to  work  out  the  problems 
of  teacher-training,  state  aid  and  state  administration,  the  last  quarter 
of  the  century  is  marked  by  the  knitting  up  of  these  various  agencies 
and  the  adoption  of  a  conscious  policy  of  centralized  authority.  It 
can  not  be  maintained  that  school  developments  were  as  remarkable 
as  the  strides  in  the  increase  and  concentration  of  population,  the 
increase  of  wealth  and  the  development  of  industry  and  transporta- 
tion, but  the  effects  of  the  latter  are  clearly  seen. 

The  office  of  State  Superintendent  remained  the  source  of  settle- 
ment of  school  dispute,"  and  particularly  during  the  incumbency  of 
A.  S.  Draper,  1886  to  1892,  became  the  clearinghouse  for  all  sorts 
of  school  problems.  In  1887  lists  of  questions  were  prepared  and 
sent  out  to  the  school  commissioners  for  their  optional  use  in  the 
examination  of  teachers  and  in  1888  all  the  commissioners  had  sup- 
planted their  own  lists  with  these.  In  1889  the  teachers  training 
classes  in  the  academies  and  high  schools  were  transferred  from  the 
control  of  the  Board  of  Regents  to  that  of  the  Superintendent.  In 
1893  the  commissioners  began  the  practice  of  sending  the  examina- 
tion papers  to  the  State  Department  for  rating. 

Moreover  Doctor  Draper  actively  advocated  the  principle  of  cen- 
tralization and  put  forward  the  theory  that  the  schools  of  the  State 
were  state  and  not  local  institutions,  for  which  the  State  must  work 
out  a  program  and  policy  and  for  which  it  must  take  the  responsibil- 
ity in  regard  to  their  efficiency.^''  In  this  he  was  borne  out  by 
several  important  court  decisions, ^^  so  that  just  as  the  free  school 
triumph  of  1867  had  settled  the  question  as  to  the  right  to  use 
state  property  to  support  free  education  of  the  children  of  the  State, 
by  the  close  of  the  century  it  was  generally  understood  and  accepted 
that  the  educational  problems  of  each  community  were  matters  c^ 
state  concern  and  that  state  interference  was  certain  in  case  loca' 
officers  or  teachers  grossly  violated  state  laws  or  state  educatioaa- 


^Laws  of  1875,  chap.  567. 

*Laws  of  1877,  chap.  413. 

'12,297  jippeals  were  settled  from  1855  to  1875;  Sup't  Rep't,  1875,  p.  53. 

"  Sup't  Rep'ts,  1889,  p.  72-73;  1890,  p.  97-105;  1891,  app.  p.  147-64;  also 
Educational   Review,   1:30;    15:100. 

"Ridenour  vs.  Board  of  Education  of  Brooklyn,  in  N.  Y.  State  Reporter, 
72,  p.  155;  People  ex  rel.,  vs.  Bennett,  54  Barb.,  480;  also  Sup't  Rep't,  1898s 
1:103,  122-25. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  lOI 

precedents.  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  passing  that  this  centrahzing 
tendency  was  clearly  seen  in  other  branches  of  government  within 
the  State  and  that  the  Board  of  Regents  during  the  last  decades  of 
the  century  was  rapidly  extending  its  authority  in  similar  lines, 
namely  inspection,  examination  and  distribution  of  finance.  It  was 
this  fact  as  much  as  anything,  that  at  first  made  for  lack  of  harmony 
between  the  two  departments  and  after  the  consolidation  of  1904 
made  for  ease  of  adjustment. 

It  will  be  seen  that  many  of  these  developments  would  necessarily 
react  very  slowly  and  very  little  upon  the  secondary  schools,  and 
further  that  the  really  significant  centralizing  tendencies  are  late  in 
the  century.  Moreover  in  no  case  did  this  legislation  concern  itself 
with  other  than  the  elementary  schools.  In  addition  it  should  be 
said  that  much  contemplated  beneficent  legislation  failed  of  passage. 
The  best  illustration  is  that  providing  for  permissive  township 
organization  of  schools  earnestly  advocated  by  the  superintendents 
and  other  educational  leaders  of  the  State  almost  annually  from 
about  i860  on.^- 

c  Intrcnchment  of  the  academy  system.  Before  the  period 
known  as  the  "  educational  revival,"  the  academy  and  similarly  the 
college  were  in  New  York  State  considered  parts  of  the  "  system  of 
instruction."^^  While  the  conception  persisted  in  some  quarters 
throughout  the  century,  with  the  rise  of  the  lower  schools  into  a 
measure  of  adequacy  a  changed  viewpoint  gradually  came  in.  Peti- 
tions were  sent  the  Legislature  asking  the  discontinuance  of  the  prac- 
tice of  giving  aid  to  the  academies  while  common  school  advocates 
urged  that  the  academies  tended  to  foster  an  undemocratic  spirit  and 
encroached  on  the  field  of  the  common  schools  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  latter  did  not  flourish  in  the  same  vicinity.^*  On  the  other  hand, 
the  academy  advocates  held  that  the  prosperity  of  the  common 
schools  depended  directly  upon  the  abihty  of  the  academies  to  pro- 
vide teachers  and  similarly  to  provide  an  educational  leadership  to 
foster  and  promote  the  lower  schools.^'  In  a  special  report  in  1845 
the  legislative  committee  on  colleges,  academies  and  common  schools 
reviewed  the  principles  which  had  directed  educational  legislation  in 


^^  A  bill  actually  passed  the  Senate  in  1893  (see  Regents  Rep't,  1894,  i  :304) 
and  in  191 7  an  act  was  passed  only  to  be  vigorously  attacked  and  nearly 
annulled  in  the  following  year. 

"Governors  Annual  Messages  in  Senate  Jour.,  1837,  p.  11:  Assembly  Jour., 
1839,  p.  29.  See  similarly  Assembly  Jour..  1853,  p.  15-16;  Sup't  Rep't,  1857, 
p.  11-12 ;  New  York  Teacher,  1:3,  80;  Regents  Rep't,  1863,  P-  ^7- 

"  Sup't  Rep'ts,  1843,  p.  274-75 ;  1865,  p.  108. 

"Regents  Minutes   (MSS),  4:380;  Regents  Rep't,   1861,  p.  8. 


102  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

the  State  and  maintained  that  these  included  not  only  provision  of 
elementary  instruction  for  all  but  also  "  facilities  and  encouragement 
to  those  whose  talents  and  aspirations  urge  them  on  to  the  acquiring 
of  a  more  complete  and  thorough  education."^^  Inasmuch  as  such 
facilities  were  at  the  time  offered  only  by  voluntary  schools,  this 
report  tended  to  strengthen  the  existing  poHcies  and  "  system." 

Contemporaneously  with  the  union  free  school  law,  the  Superin- 
tendent in  his  annual  reports  began  the  advocacy  of  a  scholarship 
plan  as  a  solution  of  the  matter. ^^  The  Superintendent  held  that,  as 
it  was  a  recognized  principle  that  the  many  should  not  be  taxed  for 
the  benefit  of  the  few  and  that  consequently  all  money  spent  by  the 
State  for  educational  purposes  must  be  so  spent  as  to  make  for  equal- 
ity of  opportunity,  there  were  but  two  alternatives,  either  the  with- 
drawal of  state  support  from  the  academies  or  the  requirement  that 
such  money  be  given  in  the  form  of  scholarships  available  to  those 
who  showed  special  fitness  for  higher  education.  -Against  the 
former  plan  could  be  urged  its  possible  unconstitutionality  and  the 
further  considerations  that  it  meant  that  a  large  sum  of  money 
already  given  to  the  academies  by  the  State  would  have  to  be  relin- 
quished and  also  that  the  academies  would  then  become  even  more 
the  monopoly  of  the  well-to-do.  In  favor  of  the  scholarships  were 
cited  the  city  high  schools  of  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Utica, 
where  admission  was  through  competitive  examination.  Nothing 
came  of  the  matter,  however,  as  the  State  had  as  yet  developed  no 
plan  of  examinations  nor  sufficient  central  authority  for  their  admin- 
istration. It  is  probable  that  the  greatest  value  of  the  conception 
was  the  initiation  of  the  discussion  of  scholarships  which  had  fruition 
a  half  century  later  in  providing  opportunity  for  collegiate  rather 
than  secondary  education. 

The  problems  of  the  academy  were  largely  financial.  As  early 
as  1840  the  Regents  found  it  necessary  to  pass  an  ordinance  denying 
aid  from  state  funds  to  schools  which  leased  their  property  to  the 
principal,  thereby  relaxing  oversight  completely.^^  The  privilege  of 
granting  dividends  in  the  case  of  academies  organized  as  stock  com- 
panies was  given  by  the  Legislature  in  185 1  but  withdrawn  in  1857 
because  it  was  out  of  sympathy  with  the  general  practices  of  the 
Regents.'^     The  constantly  noted  evils  of  the  frequent  changes  of 


"  Assembly  Documents.   1845. 

"Sup't  Rep't,  1853.  p.  13-19;  1854,  p.  32-37;  1855,  p.  21-27;  1856,  p.  39-41- 
Also  Assembly  Tour,,  iSq.s.  p.  21 ;  1856,  p.  102,  and  Sup't  Rep't,  1S70.  p.  68. 
"Regents  Minutes  (MSS),  4:296  ff. ;  cf.  Regents  Rep't,  1863,  p.  15-16. 
"Laws  of  1851,  chap.  544;  1857,  chap.  527. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  IO3 

principals  and  teachers  together  with  their  lack  of  qualifications,  as 
determined  by  the  boards  of  trustees,  had  their  root  in  the  same 
source.-'^  Voluntary  endowments  were  considered  the  means  of 
relief  to  the  academies  and  in  1867  a  committee  of  the  University 
Convocation  drafted  a  bill  looking  to  the  encouragement  of  these. "^ 
The  proposal  failed  as  did  the  earlier  plan  to  restrict  the  distribution 
of  existing  state  funds  for  secondary  schools  to  the  academies,  pro- 
vided a  like  sum  be  given  to  the  rapidly  growing  number  of  high 
schools. -- 

In  1S73  representatives  of  the  academies  succeeded  in  framing 
a  bill  and  securing  its  passage,  augmenting  considerably  the  annual 
appropriation,  but  the  advantage  worked  equally  to  the  high  schools 
and  the  bill  lapsed  after  one  year.  In  the  controversy  that  arose, 
interest  centered  largely  in  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  the 
academy  was  a  private  institution.  The  Superintendent  in  a  lengthy 
discussion  of  the  propriety  of  the  appropriation  held  that  the 
academy  was  private  and  that  the  state  tax,  if  such  were  to  be 
levied,  should  be  restricted  in  its  distribution  to  the  public  high 
schools. ^^  The  Regents  in  reply  maintained  that  the  academies  weie 
public  institutions  holding  private  property  in  trust  but  property  de- 
voted by  the  laws  of  the  State  and  the  constitution  to  public  ends 
only.-*  They  held  further  that  three  or  four  millions  of  endowment 
of  the  academies  was  a  means  of  relief  to  the  State  of  an  equivalent 
in  taxation.  In  this  sum,  however,  as  just  as  the  position  may  have 
been,  all  property  of  the  academies  was  included,  endowments  alone 
probably  totalling  not  more  than  $800,000,  about  equally  divided 
between  a  few  strong  schools  and  a  large  number  of  weak  schools.-^ 

By  this  time  the  numerical  strength  of  the  high  schools  equalled 
that  of  the  academies  and,  after  the  temporary  financial  relief  of  the 
one  }ear,  the  academies  in  greater  numbers  than  before  merged  with 


""Regents  Rep't,  1882,  p.  xvii ;  cf.  Annals  of  Ed.,  9:178. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1868,  p.  691  ff. ;  cf.  1870,  p.  613-16. 

"^Regents   Rep't,    i860,  p.   7;    1875,   p.   xiv. 

=^Sup't   Rep't,    1873,   p.   60-68. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1874,  p.  xii-xiii,  1875,  p.  xii ;  cf.  Senate  Documents, 
1870,  no.  82,  p.  4.  This  view  was  maintained  up  to  the  very  year  of  unifi- 
cation of  the  two  systems;  see  Regents  Rep't,  1904,  p.  no,  ri6;  Assembly 
Documents,  1904,  no.  25,  p.  12-13;  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  190S,  p.  51. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1874,  p.  472-79.  A  study  of  the  property  of  the  acad- 
emies for  that  year  shows  that  but  25  had  plants  and  equipment  worth 
more  than  $25,000  and  that  only  35  had  total  property  valued  at  that  figure 
or  above.  The  endowments  (entitled  in  the  schedules  "other  academic 
property")  ranged  as  follows:  i  academy  between  $75,000  and  $100,000; 
I  between  $51,000  and  $75,000;  3  between  $21,000  and  $25,000;  6  between 
$16,000  and  $20,000;  9  between  $11,000  and  $15,000;  8  between  $6000  and 
$10,000  ind  the  remaining  60,  about  70  per  cent  of  the  number,  $5000  or  less. 


I04  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

the  public  schools.  The  Regents  long  justified  their  continuance, 
particularly  for  two  functions:  (i)  service  to  rural  sections  where 
high  schools  were  not  established  and  were  not  likely  to  be,  and  (2) 
preparation  of  pupils  for  colleges.-''  Apart,  however,  from  some 
of  the  stronger  schools  which  persisted  because  a  large  endowment 
enabled  them  to  realize  the  above-mentioned  functions,  the  academy 
as  a  system  of  higher  education  was  well  set  aside  by  1880.  Forces 
in  the  broader  economic  and  social  life  determined  the  change  in 
the  institutional  nature  of  secondary  education  despite  the  educa- 
tional leadership  of  the  State.  In  the  next  section  supplementary 
data  will  be  brought  out  in  a  review  of  the  literature  on  the  high 
school. 

d  Growth  and  acceptance  of  the  "free  high  school  idea."  The 
concept  of  a  free  high  school  supplementing  the  lower  common 
schools  was  a  matter  of  relatively  late  growth  in  New  York  as  com- 
pared with  New  England.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  section  to  trace 
the  slow  growth  of  this  idea  as  a  significant  factor  determining  the 
progress  of  the  movement. 

An  abundant  literature  of  the  middle  of  the  century,  favoring 
the  introduction  of  higher  subjects  into  the  common  schools  and 
the  consolidation  of  schools,  gives  little  evidence  that  most  of  those 
who  favored  these  changes  either  foresav/  the  natural  development 
of  the  high  school  or  free  academy  type  of  organization  or  the  later 
vigorous  opposition  to  that  institution.  Bills  for  the  creation  of  indi- 
vidual schools  on  the  whole  seem  not  to  have  met  with  much  oppo- 
sition although  in  the  one  case  of  Brooklyn,  actual  defeat  was  met 
with.^^  Both  general  and  special  acts  left  the  questions  of  estab- 
lishment and  maintenance  to  the  local  electorate  and  its  delegated 
school  officers.  By  the  last  quarter  of  the  century  the  matter  had 
become  a  statewide  issue. 

In  the  local  contests  for  the  establishment  of  high  schools,  the 
arguments  that  won  the  day  were  usually  advanced  along  three 
main  lines:  (i)  Such  institutions  had  a  favorable  effect  upon  the 
lower  schools.  They  stimulated  the  pupils  to  seek  higher  educa- 
tion, in  particular  alleviating  the  problems  of  congestion  and  dis- 
cipline in  the  upper  grades.  They  prepared  teachers  for  the  lower 
schools,  especially  the  "  female "  schools,  so  that  it  came  to  be 
the  common  practice  to  require  graduation  from  the  high  school  for 


"Regents  Rep'ts,  1870,  p.  xviii;  187.3,  p.  597;  1882,  p.  xiv;  1885,  p.  12-13; 
1804,  P-   ryo,   r65   ff. ;    1904,   I,  p.    ris-i6. 

"Assembly  Jour.,  1864,  p.  I94,  372,  584,  1121,  1141,  1238,  1246;  Senate 
Jour.,    1864,    p.    739- 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  IO5 

admission  to  teachers  examinations.  The  elementary  curriculum 
was  extended  and  broadened  and  the  interest  of  the  better  classes 
so  enlisted  that  the  relative  strength  of  the  private  schools  declined. 
(2)  Opportunity  for  education  was  equalized  and  a  corresponding 
democracy  in  higher  education  established.  Youth  formerly  unable 
to  attend  higher  schools  could  now  do  so  and  the  basis  of  such 
education  was  made  scholarship  merit  and  not  wealth.  Moreover 
pupils  of  all  classes  worked  side  by  side  and  thus  the  growing 
tendenc}-  toward  class  spirit  and  jealousy  was  reduced,  a  situation 
paralleled  by  the  earlier  introduction  of  free  school  systems  in  the 
cities.  (3)  Trained  leadership  was  provided  not  only  for  the 
professions  but  for  the  various  pursuits  of  the  business  and  com- 
mercial life.  Society  in  general  thereby  profited  and  advances  were 
made  in  the  various  lines  of  community  need  and  interest.-^ 

Objectors  either  to  the  foundation  or  maintenance  of  high  schools 
attacked  these  arguments  and  advanced  counterarguments  in  the 
following  vein:  (i)  they  were  class  schools  as  only  a  few  could 
or  would  attend  them;  (2)  they  therefore  violated  the  principles  of 
equality  of  burden  and  equality  of  opportunity;  (3)  they  withdrew 
money  needed  for  the  lower  schools  or  for  the  special  care  of  the 
unfortunate  classes  and  their  children ;  (4)  the  right  and  obligation 
of,  as  well  as  the  advantages  to,  the  State  were  in  question  when 
the  support  of  education  extended  beyond  the  elementary  stages. 
The  latter  was  regarded  generally  as  a  necessity  in  preparation  for 
suffrage.-^ 

As  a  result  of  local  opposition  without  a  state  policy  of  manda- 
tory secondary  education,  the  temporary  withdrawal  of  funds  often 
occasioned  serious  delay  in  the  establishment  of  high  schools  or 
the  extension  of  their  work.^°  In  other  places  boards  of  education 
were  often  forced  through  niggardly  policies  of  the  council  to  reduce 
the  wages  of  teachers  or  reduce  the  number.  Other  cities,  notably 
Brooklyn  and  New  York,  had  no  local  high  school  system  until  the 
very  end  of  the  century.  An  additional  source  of  difficulty  was  that 
of  jealousies  within  the  staff  of  the  school,  especially  between  the 


^  Annual  reports  of  the  New  York  Free  Academy  and  of  the  boards  of 
education  of  the  various  cities.  New  York,  Rochester,  Buffalo,  Brooklyn 
etc.,  especially  from  1845  to  i860.  Kiddle  and  Schem,  Cyclopedia  of  Edu- 
cation, High  Schools.  See  also  Annual  Rep'ts  of  Sup't  of  Pub.  Inst., 
1850,    ff. 

™Ibid.  See  in  particular,  Annual  Rep't  Bd.  of  Ed.  (New  York  City), 
1850,  p.  30-31  and  Rep't  of  a  Committee  of  the  New  York  Municipal 
Society,   1878. 

"School  Bulletin,  1:56;  4:184. 


I06  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

superintendent  and  the  principal.  Of  the  two  the  latter  was  typically 
the  best  trained  man  professionally  and  in  one  case  at  least  the  towns- 
people took  sides,  involving  the  question  of  the  continuance  of  the 
high  school.  Again  difficulties  arose  in  the  adjustment  of  terms 
between  contracting  trustees  of  academies  and  boards  of  educa- 
tion when  the  merger  of  the  two  systems  was  contemplated  which 
resulted  in  delay  over  considerable  periods  of  time  in  the  adequate 
reestablishment  of  proper  secondary  facilities. ^^  Another  source  of 
difficulty  was  found  in  the  tendency  to  continue  to  charge  tuition  in 
the  case  of  residents,  a  practice  established  under  the  academy 
system,  with  the  result  that  antagonism  was  encouraged  on  the  part 
of  taxpayers. 

Just  as  local  sentiment  passed  through  a  stage  of  uncertainty  and 
skepticism  as  to  the  place  of  the  high  school,  similarly  the  attitude 
of  the  Regents  was  a  matter  of  slow  growth  until  they  accepted  the 
high  school  as  the  logical  successor  of  the  academy.  Immediately 
upon  the  passage  of  the  union  free  school  act  of  1853,  which  ushered 
in  the  general  high  school  movement,  precautionary  measures  were 
taken  to  safeguard  the  movement.  In  the  same  year  an  ordinance 
was  passed  requiring  notice  to  be  given  in  the  state  and  local  papers 
by  any  institution  desiring  a  change  in  its  charter.^'-  This  appears 
to  have  been  aimed  at  the  merging  of  academies  into  high  schools, 
but  no  data  are  available  as  to  its  effectiveness.  In  1855,  on  the  day 
of  the  first  admission  of  a  high  school  under  the  general  act,  a  reso- 
lution was  adopted  appointing  a  special  committee  to  inquire  int(^ 
the  "  nature  and  extent  of  the  privileges  and  immunities  "  of  union 
free  schools,  but  again  no  data  are  available  as  to  the  committee's 
work.^^  At  no  time  was  any  ordinance  or  resolution  passed  definitely 
hostile  to  the  high  schools,  but  during  the  rapid  numerical  develop- 
ment of  the  sixties  and  early  seventies,  the  Regents  had  occasion 
to  point  out  many  of  the  inadequacies  of  these  schools  and  their 
administration. 

Among  the  more  frequent  statements  of  the  Regents,  which  indi- 
cate at  once  the  comparative  inefficiency  of  the  high  schools  and  the 
attitude  of  the  Regents,  are  the  following :  ( i )  they  withdrew  from 
the  academies  the  funds  needed  for  their  support;  (2)  they 
charged  tuition  to  nonresident  pupils,  therefore  not  forming  a  com- 


"^  Regents    Rep't,    1877,    p.    718-24;    Sup't    Rep't,    1868,   p.   269-70;    Regents 
Minutes,    8:38. 
*"  Regents    Minutes,   6 :46. 
*°  Regents    Minutes,    6:166. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  IO7 

plete  substitute  for  the  displaced  academies;^''  (3)  they  were  often 
found  poorly  equipped  in  the  matter  of  library  and  apparatus  and 
therefore  often  had  to  be  admitted  conditionally;^^  (4)  they  were 
frequently  created  when  the  number  of  pupils  and  the  promise  of 
support  were  inadequate;^'''  (5)  they  were  lacking  in  "thorough 
management  and  control,"  for  which  a  committee  of  investigation 
was  appointed  in  1873;^^  (6)  they  did  not  appeal  to  a  sufficiently 
large  number  of  youth  of  high  school  age,  presumably  because  their 
courses  did  not  furnish  "  direct  preparation  for  the  practical  and 
active  duties  of  life.'"^^  In  part  the  Regents  view  of  ihe  work  of  the 
high  schools  was  determined  by  the  long  period  of  fosterage  of  the 
academies  discussed  in  the  previous  section.  As  the  decay  of  this 
system  became  evident  in  the  seventies  and  eighties,  a  wave  of  con- 
troversy swept  the  State  and  indeed  the  country  as  to  the  propriety 
of  the  State  participating  in  the  provision  of  higher  educational 
facilities  and  from  this  point  on  the  Regents  had  to  defend  alike 
the  academy  and  the  high  school. ^'^ 

It  remains  therefore  to  trace  out  the  more  specific  contest  of  the 
quarter  centur}-  from  1870  on  in  which  the  issue  was  as  to  whether 
or  not  the  high  school  should  be  supported  by  the  State.  From  the 
first  this  question  was  bound  up  with  another  already  discussed  to 
some  extent,  namely  as  to  the  public  or  private  nature  of  the  acad- 
emy. In  1870  the  problem  was  officially  set  forth  in  a  report  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  his  answer  to  an  Assembly 
resolution  asking  his  opinion  on  the  propriety  of  the  abolition  of 
the  Board  of  Regents,  a  matter  which  had  been  vigorously  discussed 
for  a  number  of  years.**^  He  held  that  the  Board  should  be  retained 
but  placed  under  the  general  control  of  the  Superintendent  and  went 


^  Regents    Rep't,    1871,    p.    xvii. 

"^Regents  Rep't,   1882,  p.  xiv;  cf.  Regents  Minutes,  7:87,  230,  254. 

'°  Regents    Minutes,    7:319.      Regents    Rep'ts,    1871.    p.    xix;    1873,    p.    xvi- 
xvii ;   1874,   p.  xvi-xviii ;   1878,  p.  xi ;   1882,  p.  xiii ;   1885,  p.    12. 

"Regents   Minutes,  8:121;   cf.  p.  2. 

™  Regents  Rep't,  1S69,  p.  xviii-xx.  A  table  on  page  xviii  shows  that  in 
nine  cities  having  high  schools  but  2.88  per  cent  of  youth  ranging  in  age 
from  12  to  21  3ears  were  in  school  as  compared  with  4.82  per  cent  in  the 
State  as  a  whole.  However,  from  the  schedules  of  the  same  report  less 
damaging  evidence  is  adducible.  The  number  allowed  as  strictly  academic 
pupils  and  therefore  counting  in  the  distribution  of  the  state  funds  con- 
stituted for  the  cities  included  above  1.16  per  cent  of  the  total  population 
as  against  1.37  per  cent  for  the  State  as  a  whole.  Similarly  the  number 
allowed  in  the  count  constituted  for  these  cities  40.2  per  cent  of  the 
total  high  school  enrolment  as  against  28.4  per  cent  for  the  State,  indicat- 
ing that  the  secondary  school  population  in  the  cities  represented  a  much 
more    highly    selected    group. 

*"  Barnard's   Tour,  of   Ed.,  29  :lxxxi-lxxxviii. 

'"  Sup't    Rep't,    1870,    p.    59-74. 


I08  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

on  to  intei-pret  the  larger  question  of  the  duty  of  the  State  in  regard 
to  secondary  education.  The  academies  were  private  institutions 
and  therefore  without  the  pale  of  the  public  school  system.  The 
State  had  never  intended  to  provide  free  academic  instruction  and 
it  was  an  open  question  whether  it  should.  Moreover  he  believed 
there  was  evident  an  unwillingness  of  the  people  to  establish  and 
maintain  higher  schools.  The  Regents  in  a  reply  to  a  similar  resolu- 
tion asking  them  to  set  forth  their  powers  and  the  desirability  of 
their  extension,  urged  the  proposition  that  the  colleges  and  academies 
because  of  their  support  by  means  of  voluntary  subscriptions  were 
not  amenable  to  the  same  detailed  supervision  as  the  common 
schools. "^^  They  considered  their  powers  sufficient  as  they  involved 
the  requirement  of  reports,  incorporation  and  inspection.  Strange 
to  say,  neither  report  emphasized  the  essential  distinction  between 
the  academy  and  high  school. 

The  special  tax  levied  for  the  increased  state  support  of  higher 
schools  in  1873,  ^^^^^  the  occasion  for  a  second  statement  of  Superin- 
tendent Weaver,  who  again  maintained  that  a  general  tax  for  higher 
education  was  a  precedent  of  doubtful  merit  and  worth.*-  A 
special  report  of  the  Regents  in  the  following  year  reaffirmed  the 
principles  formerly  set  forth  and  sought  to  answer  the  objections 
to  the  sharing  of  the  academies  in  the  state  tax  by  calling  attention  to 
the  fact  that  one-half  of  its  benefit  accrued  to  the  high  schools 
because  of  their  rapid  growth.*^ 

In  the  University  Convocation  of  1876,  when  it  was  still  strongly 
representative  of  the  colleges  and  academies,  one  of  the  chief  sub- 
jects for  discussion  following  a  paper  on  the  same  subject  was  that 
of  Voluntaryism  in  Education.**  The  major  contentions  were  that 
support  of  schools  by  taxation  should  be  limited  to  the  common 
schools  and  possibly  the  training  of  teachers  therefor  and  that  higher 
education  should  be  provided  by  "  individual  and  corporate  bene- 
volence "  under  general  state  laws.  A  still  more  significant  and 
influential  utterance  was  that  of  Regent  Charles  Fitch  two  years 
later  before  the  State  Teachers  Association,  which  laid  down  the 
two  propositions  that  ( i )  "  the  State  has  no  right  to  foster  .  .  . 
scholarship  "  and  that  (2)  "  the  vokmtary  principle  not  only  can,  but 


•"  Senate   Documents,    1870,   no.   82. 

"Sup't  Rep't.  1873,  p.  60-63;  cf.  Regents  Rep't,   1874,  p.  659-63. 

*^  Assembly   Documents,    1874,   no.    78. 

"Regents    Rep't,    1877,   p.   627-37. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  IO9 

will  take  care  of  higher  education."*^  A  vigorous  denial  of  these 
views  was  made  in  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  of  School 
Commissioners  and  City  Superintendents  in  a  series  of  resolutions 
w^iich  were  adopted.""^  Ex-Governor  Seymour  in  an  address  before 
the  same  body  argued  that  the  peculiar  feature  of  the  American 
system  was  that  it  was  diffusive  in  nature  and  that  all  institutions 
belong  to  it.  Simultaneously  Governor  Robinson  in  his  annual  mes- 
sages of  1877  to  1879  attacked  most  viciously  the  support  of  higher 
schools  by  taxation,  decrying  it  as  a  "'  violation  of  personal  rights  " 
and  as  "  legalized  robbery."  ^'' 

Had  such  powerful  and  authoritative  attacks  been  made  a  couple 
of  decades  earlier,  undoubtedly  the  course  of  the  growth  of  the  high 
school  might  have  been  temporarily  stopped  at  the  source.  As  it 
was,  the  period  from  1875  to  1885  was  one  of  very  slow  development 
relatively  of  both  types  of  secondary  schools  (Tables  11  and  12). 
The  literature  of  the  period  is  replete  with  discussions  of  the  issues 
defined  above.  Of  particular  interest  are  the  papers  and  reports  of 
discussions  on  the  floor  of  the  University  Convocation.  A  large 
number  of  these  for  this  decade  centered  in  the  two  related  topics: 
(i)  the  relation  of  the  various  schools  of  the  State  to  one  another 
and  to  the  State,*^  and  (2)  the  specific  function  of  the  high  schools 
and  of  the  academies.**^  The  struggles  of  the  academies  to  main- 
tain their  ancient  position  in  secondary  education  and  consequently 
the  supremacy  of  the  voluntary  principle  were  definitely  affected 
by  the  tvro  f  oUov/ing  events  :  ( i )  the  reorganization  of  the  University 
Convocation  in  1882  and  following,  so  that  discussions  of  current 
problems  rather  than  learned  papers  became  the  general  practice  and 
that  consequently  a  wider  appeal  was  made  to  the  secondary 
schools,'''^  and  (2)  the  stipulation  of  the  Legislature  in  1887  that  of 
the  $100,000  appropriation  to  secondary  schools,  the  academies  must 
be  restricted  to  $40,000.'^^ 

Until  about  1893  the  matter  rested  so  far  as  the  office  of  the  State 
Superintendent  was  concerned.    Incumbents  of  this  office  from  1874 


**  School  Bulletin,  3 :66-68.  He  reaffirmed  these  views  in  the  University 
Convocation  of  1883  in  a  discussion  concerning  the  place  of  the  academies 
in  secondary  education;  Regents  Rep't,  1884,  p.  68. 

"^School  'Bulletin,    4:98-99. 

*'  Senate  Documents,  1877,  no.  2,  p.  19-20 ;  1878,  no.  2,  p.  20-21 ;  1879, 
p.    15-16. 

*' Regents  Rep'ts,  1873,  p.  541-44;  1875,  p.  695-703;  1876,  p.  603-15; 
1877,   p.  610-16;    1878,   p.   401.     Proc.  of   Univ.    Convoc,    1884,   p.    138-55- 

'"Regents  Rep'ts.  1873,  p.  556-66;  1875,  P-  7ii-i5;  1884.  p.  58-75. 

"Regents  Rep't,  1882,  p.  314-18;  School  Bulletin,  3:193-94;  7:17-18,  14L 

"Laws  of   1887,  chap.  709. 


no  THK    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

to  1893  were  largely  favorable  to  higher  education  in  event  it  was 

permissive  and  the  lower  schools  did  not  suffer  by  the  withdrawal  of 

funds.^-     Superintendent  Draper  did  indeed  express  the  belief  that 

the  higher  schools  were  absorbing  too  much  attention  and  perhaps 

too  large  a  portion  of  the  state  nioneys,^^  but  in  general  his  views 

are  indicated  in  the  following  statement  from  an  address  of  1890: 

I  entertain  no  doubt  of  the  right  and  the  propriety  of  the  support  of  high 
scliools  at  common  cost  at  the  option  of  qualified  electors  of  each  com- 
munity. .  .  .  High  schools  have  come  to  acquire  a  legal  status  in  our 
system." 

His  successor  in  office,  however,  launched  a  vigorous  and  destruc- 
tive criticism  of  the  practice  of  giving  state  moneys  to  higher  schools. 
The  following  is  from  the  report  of  1893: 

It  is  my  position  that  a  vast  amount  of  the  public  moneys  is  diverted  from 
the  original  purpose  in  furnishing  higher  education  to  a  small  number  of  a 
favored  class,  who,  in  most  cases,  are  well  able  to  obtain  it  without  the  aid 
of  the  State." 

The  decade  that  followed  revived  the  old  question  of  the  division 
of  labor  between  the  two  state  departments  which  was  only  finally 
settled  by  their  unification.  The  rapid  relative  decline  of  the  acad- 
emy and  the  policy  of  extension  of  high  school  facilities  of  the  earlier 
part  of  the  last  decade  of  the  century  had  won  the  Regents  to  a 
new  point  of  view,  which  was  strengthened  by  the  constant  attacks 
of  the  Superintendent  during  the  same  period.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Board  no  doubt  voiced  their  sentiments  when  he  declared  that  there 
were  but  three  classes  which  opposed  the  high  school ;  aristocrats, 
demagogues  and  the  selfish  rich.''^  Presumably  the  offending  Super- 
mtendent  belonged  to  the  second  group.  To  set  forth  adequately  the 
conception  of  the  free  high  school  and  to  offset  the  activities  of  its 
powerful  enemies,  a  special  bulletin  was  published  entitled  "  High 
Schools  and  the  State "  in  which  were  assembled  a  number  of 
addresses  of  the  State's  foremost  educators  on  the  function  of  the 
public  high  school  and  the  supplementary  problem  of  its  support  by 
the  State.'^  The  University  Convocation  of  1894  devoted  an  after- 
noon and  evening  to  discussion  of  the  same  topics'®  and  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  Secretary  of  the  Regents,  the  School  Bulletin,  the  most 
widely  read  school  paper  of  the  State  at  the  time,  published  a  five 


"Sup't  Rep'ts,  1879,  p.  27-28;  1884,  p.  41-42. 

"Sup't  Rep'ts,  1887,  p.  18,  29;  1891,  p.  xl-xli;  1892,  p.  1\ 

'-*  Sup't  Rep't,  1891,  app.,  p.  2i8-i9- 

"  Sup't  Rep't,  1893,  p.  14.  Cf.  1894,  1 :33,  35,  47- 

'■*  Regents  Rep't,  1894,  p.  r26o. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1895,  I,  app.  i,  Bui.  26 

**  Regents  Rep't,  1895.  I,  app.,  p.  219-73. 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  III 

page  symposium  on  the  same  subject.^"  Likewise  the  Associated 
Academic  Principals  urged  through  a  printed  letter  to  the  newspapers 
that  the  fallacies  of  the  Superintendent  be  laid  bare.""  It  can 
scarcely  be  said  that  new  arguments  were  brought  forth  but  the  old 
were  reiterated  until  forced  upon  the  attention  of  all.  With  the 
establishment  of  a  high  school  department  by  the  Regents  in  1898 
and  with  increased  aid  in  1901,  the  work  of  public  secondary  educa- 
tion went  forward  with  remarkable  strides.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  at  the  century's  end  both  the  Secretary  of  the  Regents  in 
an  annual  address  before  the  University  Convocation,^^  and  the 
Superintendent  invhis  annual  reports,^-  spoke  in  very  similar  lan- 
guage of  the  high  school  as  the  capstone  of  the  common  school 
system.  The  provoking  issue  by  this  time  was  that  of  control.  This 
was  settled  by  the  unification  of  the  two  state  supervisory  bodies  and 
thereby  the  consummation  of  the  "  free  high  school  idea  "  was  real- 
ized in  theory  as  it  had  been  largely  realized  in  practice  during  the 
previous  half  century. 

Summarv  and  Conclusions 

1  The  earlier  use  of  the  term  high  school  in  New  York  was  in 
connection  with  higher  departments  of  the  lower  schools  and  the 
monitorial  schools  of  secondary  grade.  Tradition  and  law  fixed 
the  term  "  academical  department  of  union  school  "  as  the  common 
denotation  although  individual  schools,  especially  in  the  larger  cities, 
by  i860  adopted  the  term  high  school  in  its  generally  accepted  usage. 
In  1893  the  classification  of  the  public  secondary  schools  into 
four  grades  made  the  term  appropriate  only  in  regard  to  schools 
of  four  years  of  work,  with  certain  restrictions  concerning  equip- 
ment, pupils  and  teaching  stafif. 

2  Typical  early  high  schools  are  represented  by  the  Lockport 
Union  School  and  the  New  York  (City)  Free  Academy,  both  estab- 
lished at  the  opening  of  the  second  half  century.  In  general  these 
schools  became  the  models  for  the  other  cities  and  villages  of  the 
State  and  also  of  the  general  union  free  school  law.  The  influence 
of  other  states  is  seen  in  the  rise  of  these  two  schools.  In  the  matter 
of  curriculum,  the  latter  followed  the  Philadelphia  Central  High 
School  and  was  soon  elevated  into  college  rank  while  the  former  as 


School   Bulletin,   20:197-201. 

Regents  Rep't,   1895,  p.  615-17. 

Repents  Rep't,  1899,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  ■.662-So. 

Sup'ts  Rep'ts,  1899,  p.  xv-xvii;  1900,  p.  51-53- 


112  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

also  the  other  early  high  schools  showed  little  deviation  from  the 
academy  curriculum  of  the  time. 

3  While  high  schools  \\ere  always  established  only  through  local 
initiative,  under  general  or  special  acts,  they  had  the  privilege  of 
coming  "  under  the  visitation  of  the  Regents,"  that  is,  to  member- 
ship in  The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  with  the  advan- 
tage of  participation  in  the  distribution  of  the  literature  fund  and 
other  available  funds  and  also  the  obligation  of  obedience  to  the 
Regents  rules  and  regulations.  Ordinances  controlling  "  admis- 
sion "  had  been  devised  before  the  beginning  of  the  high  school 
movement  and  were  revised  to  meet  the  slightly  different  status 
of  the  high  schools.  In  1894  there  was  put  into  operation  a  perma- 
nent plan  of  grading  or  classification  of  schools  into  four  ranks 
according  to  equipment  and  so  forth  under  the  direction  of  the 
University  inspectors.  Schools  had  the  privilege  of  raising  their 
rank  without  formal  admission. 

4  The  actual  establishment  of  high  school  facilities  is  in  most 
cases  not  easy  to  trace  as  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  effort  to  expand 
the  curriculum  or  the  consolidation  of  several  districts  without 
formal  action  or  simply  the  growth  of  an  individual  school  into 
higher  grade.  However,  the  dates  of  admission  into  the  University 
are  in  most  cases  easy  of  establisliment  from  the  Regents  Minutes 
or  Reports  and  in  a  large  majority  of  cases  coincide  very  closely 
with  what  may  be  called  the  establishment  of  a  local  high  school. 
In  the  case  of  the  merger  of  the  common  schools  with  a  local  acad- 
emy the  date  is  usually  clear-cut.  Data  on  the  individual  schools 
show  that  the  high  school  movement  which  began  about  1850  went 
steadily  forward  but  that  the  period  of  slowest  progress  was  in  the 
years  1875  to  1890  while  this  was  succeeded  by  a  period  of  phe- 
nomenal growth,  paralleled  throughout  the  whole  country  but 
influenced  in  New  York  by  increased  appropriations  and  a  new 
policy  of  expansion  and  encouragement  on  the  part  of  the  Regents. 

5  While  in  Massachusetts  and  other  states  to  the  east  and  west 
of  New  York  the  concept  of  the  free  high  school  was  generally 
accepted  by  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  New  York  State 
the  victory  could  not  be  said  to  be  fully  Avon  until  near  the  end  of 
the  century.  Various  factors  entered  in  to  retard  the  development 
of  the  high  school  movement  as  follows:  (i)  the  permissive  nature 
of  the  union  school  laws  and  their  early  lack  of  clarity  and  lack 
of  encouragement  to  weaker  communities;  (2)  the  decentralized 
condition  of  the  lower  schools  until  Superintendent  Draper,  a  strong 


ESTABLISHMENT    AND    ADMISSION    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS  II3 

centralizationist,  came  into  the  office  in  1886,  and  was  able  to  efifect 
permanent  reforms  in  and  extensions  of  policies  of  state  support 
and  control  and  also  in  regard  to  the  training  of  teachers;  (3)  the 
relatively  strong  hold  that  the  academy  maintained  upon  local  edu- 
cational leaders,  upon  the  Regents  and  therefore  upon  state  higher 
educational  polic}- ;  and  (4)  the  long  contest  between  the  Regents 
and  Superintendent  for  control  of  the  secondary  schools,  which 
involved  two  issues  of  large  import,  first,  as  to  whether  the  academy 
was  or  was  not  a  private  institution  and  therefore  what  its  status 
was  as  regards  state  aid.  and  second,  whether  the  principle  of  volun- 
taryism could  be  relied  upon  to  finance  higher  education.  In  the 
successive  chapters  are  worked  out  the  main  lines  of  development 
whereby  the  high  schools  became  welded  by  the  Regents  into  a 
highly  centralized  system  within  the  general  state  system  of  public 
schools. 


PART    ir  —  INTRODUCTION  II5 

PART  2 

Introduction 

In  the  preceding  chapters  there  has  been  traced  out  in  some  detail 
the  account  of  the  laying  of  the  foundations  of  the  New  York 
State  pubHc  secondary  or  high  school  system.  It  remains  in  the 
chapters  that  follow  to  show  how  the  state  system  developed  into 
its  highly  centralized  form.  This  discussion  is  taken  up  under  the 
three  topics,  aid.   examinations,   and  inspection. 

Previous  to  1863  the  work  of  the  Regents  was  so  conducted  that 
there  was  little  direct  contact  of  the  Board  and  its  officers  with 
the  schools.  In  that  year  a  unanimous  resolution  was  passed  to  call 
together  the  teachers,  principals  and  presidents  of  the  schools  within 
the  University.  The  committee  on  organization  of  this  body,  which 
from  the  first  was  called  the  University  Convocation,  in  a  full  state- 
ment outlining  the  purposes,  stressed  among  other  matters,  the 
interchange  of  ideas,  the  perfecting  of  the  "  standards  of  education  " 
and  the  harmonious  working  of  the  system.^  The  papers  read  and 
the  discussions  provoked  made  this  body  a  great  clearing  house  for 
educational  thought  that  had  its  influence  without  the  State  as  well 
as  within.-  An  ordinance  of  1879  "lade  the  Chancellor  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Regents,  respectively,  presiding  officer  and  sec- 
retary of  the  Convocation.  For  the  first  two  decades  of  its  existence 
the  body  was  conservative  and  its  work  was  directed  by  a  few 
strong  college  teachers  and  academy  principals.  By  1882  the  high 
school  principals  and  teachers  came  to  take  a  more  active  part,  and 
discussion  of  current  educational  problems  was  more  generally  had. 

In  1885  the  principals  of  the  secondary  schools  formed  an 
organization  known  as  the  Associated  Academic  Principals,  an  off- 
shoot of  the  Convocation  and  in  time  a  more  active  body  in  working 
out  solutions  of  state  educational  problems.  It  promoted  the  maga- 
zine known  as  the  Academy  (1886-92),  the  first  distinctly  secondary 
educational  journal  in  the  country.  The  Regents  came  to  make  it 
a  practice  to  consult  the  Principals  Council  on  matters  of  academic 
syllabus  revision,  inspection  of  schools  and  the  like  and  the  council 
took  a  large  part  in  obtaining  additional  financial  aid.     In  other 


^  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  789-93;  also  given  in  introduction  to  annual  proceed- 
ings in  annual  reports  of  the  Regenrts. 

'For  titles,  see  Hough,  p.  794-834  (1863-83)  ;  also  Handbook  6,  Pt  i,  Gen- 
eral Dep't  Publications,  1891  ff. 


Il6  THE    XEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

words,  beginning  with  1863  and  still  more  definitely  after  1885, 
until  the  unification  of  the  Board  of  Regents  with  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Instruction  in  1904,  much  of  the  educational  progress 
of  the  State  in  the  secondary  field  was  directed  by  these  two  volun- 
tary organizations. 

Just  as  A.  S.  Draper  in  the  office  of  Superintendent  from  1886  to 
1892  and  again  as  Commissioner  of  Education  from  1904  to  1913 
brought  a  high  degree  of  centralization  and  efficiency  into  the  one 
system,  so  the  name  of  Melvil  Dewey,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Regents,  is  associated  with  a  corresponding  development  in  the 
secondary  field  from  1888  to  1899.  It  was  during  this  period  that 
the  Board  of  Regents  became  a  definite  factor  in  defending  and 
opposing  legislation  affecting  secondary  education. 

From  1895  on  the  disposition  of  the  Board  of  Regents  has  been 
to  make  large  use  of  the  conclusions  of  various  state  and  extra- 
state  educational  bodies.  Cases  in  point  are  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee of  ten  of  the  National  Education  Association  and  the  annual 
reports  of  the  Association  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools  of 
the  Middle  States  and  Maryland,  the  New  York  State  Science 
Teachers  Association  and  the  College  Entrance  Examination 
Board.  Similarly  the  educational  practice  of  other  states  and  the 
opinion  of  national  leaders  in  education  have  gone  far  to  shajDe 
recent  developments  so  that  on  the  whole  the  New  York  system  is 
being  modified  through  the  influence  of  less  highly  centralized 
systems  and  is  tending  to  lose  something  of  its  uniqueness. 


STATE    AID    TO    HIGH    SCHOOLS    AND    ITS    DISTRIBUTION         II7 


Chapter  4 

State   Aid   to    High   Schools   and   Its   Distribution 

Both  the  University  acts  of  1784  and  1787  made  provision  for  the 
Regents  to  hold  funds.  The  latter  stipulated  that  these  were  to  be 
applied  as  the  Regents  thought  "  most  conducive  to  the  promotion  of 
literature  "  and  that  the  academies  must  use  them  for  the  purposes 
for  which  they  were  granted.^  On  this  slender  legal  basis  there  was 
developed  early  t^ie  practice  of  granting  state  aid  to  the  academies 
and  to  a  lesser  degree  to  the  colleges.  While  our  interest  is  in  the 
matter  of  state  support  to  high  schools,  it  is  essential  to  trace  out  the 
foundations  of  practice  in  the  academies  both  with  respect  to  the 
nature  of  the  funds  and  the  methods  of  distribution.^ 

I  State  Funds  and  Appropriations 
State  aid  to  secondary  schools  in  New  York  State  was  of  three 
kinds:  (i)  special  grants,  largely  of  lands,  to  individual  schools,  a 
practice  limited  to  the  academies  and  coming  largely  to  an  end  by 
1826;  (2)  grants  of  land  and  stocks  with  a  small  amount  of  moneys 
to  form  what  was  called  the  literature  fund;  and  (3)  direct  appro- 
priations of  moneys  from  the  state  treasury.  For  one  Aear  a  state 
tax  Vv'as  levied  for  secondary  schools  alone. 

In  1790  the  Board  of  Regents  asked  for  and  obtained  permission 
to  sell  certain  state  lands  and  place  the  income  from  the  proceeds 
of  the  sale  at  the  disposal  of  the  academies.^  This  was  the  nucleus 
of  the  literature  fund  and  the  income  was  assured  to  the  use  of  the 
academies,  that  is  secondary  schools,  by  the  Constitution  of  1846. 
Later  additions  were  made,  the  largest  in  181 3  and  1827,  from 
lotteries,  sale  of  lands,  arrears  of  quitrenls  and  the  transfer  of 
canal  stock.  In  1830  this  fund  amounted  to  slightly  more  than 
$250,000  and  did  not  in  all  its  history  increase  greatly  beyond  this 
sum."*  As  a  consequence  the  annual  income  usually  varied  from 
$10,000  to  $15,000  and  the  fund  had  its  chief  value  in  keeping  alive 
the  tradition  of  state  support  to  secondary  education.  In  1832  the 
administration  of  the  literature  fund  was  transferred  from  the 
Regents  to  the  Comptroller,^  and  in  1897  the  fund  itself  was  made 


^  Laws  of  1784,  chap.  51;  1787,  chap.  82,  especially  sec.  v. 

'See  chap.  i.  For  a  fuller  treatment,  see  Miller,  G.  F.,  op.  cit. ;  of.  Jones, 
D.  R.  State  Aid  to  Secondary  Schools,  p.  77-84,  117-20;  also  Regents  Rep't, 
1894,  i:rS3-r65. 

'  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  80-93.    Laws  of  1790,  chap.  38. 

^Regents  Rep't,  1895,  p.  r53,  gives  sum  in  1893  as  $284,201.30. 

"  Laws  of  1832,  chap.  8. 


Il8  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

a  part  of  the  general  education  fund  though  its  identity  was  still 
retained.^ 

The  same  act  which  marked  the  inception  of  the  literature  fund 
provided  for  the  appropriation  of  looo  pounds  to  assist  the  academies 
and  King's  College,  until  the  moneys  from  the  sale  of  lands 
were  available.  This  precedent  of  appropriations  as  a  mode  of 
assistance  to  the  academies  was  very  substantially  followed  in 
1838.  In  that  year  $28,000,  a  part  of  the  income  from  the  United 
States  deposit  fund,  was  added  to  the  meager  $12,000  income  from 
the  literature  fund.  For  a  half  century  the  annual  grant  remained 
$40,000.  At  the  outset  it  was  sufficiently  large  to  prove  a  real  incen- 
tive to  academic  development. 

Two  types  of  supplementary  aid  which  did  increase  in  amount 
somewhat  relieved  the  growing  need  of  the  secondary  schools. 
From  1834  on  limited  grants  were  made  for  texts,  apparatus  and 
models.  At  the  outset  the  sum  distributed  was  $3000  and  constituted 
the  excess  revenue  above  the  annually  distributed  sum  of  $12,000.' 
This  sum  was  later  doubled  and  individual  schools  were  in  each 
case  required  to  raise  equivalent  sums  before  grants  were  made. 
In  the  same  year  the  practice  was  begun  of  aiding  the  academies  in 
their  function  of  preparing  teachers  for  the  common  schools.^  By 
1853  the  sum  annually  distributed  to  a  limited  number  of  schools, 
approved  by  the  Board  of  Regents,  was  fixed  at  $18,000  and  in 
1873  it  was  raised  to  $30,000.^  In  the  latter  year,  therefore,  the 
academies  and  high  schools  were  receiving  for  various  purposes 
a  total  of  $88,000. 

By  i860  the  Regents  noticed  the  drain  upon  the  general  appro- 
priation because  of  the  growth  of  high  schools  and  suggested  the 
need  of  the  restriction  of  the  $40,000  to  the  academies  and  of  the 
appropriation  of  a  like  sum  to  the  high  schools. ^°  In  1867  the 
report  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  the  thirty  years  preceding, 
there  had  been  no  increase  in  the  general  funds  available  for  dis- 
tribution although  the  number  of  schools  had  increased  threefold 
and  the  number  of  pupils  fourfold. ^^  In  1872  a  committee  of  the 
University    Convocation    enlisted    the    interests    of    the    secondary 


"Laws  of  1897,  chap.  413;  revised  1905,  chap.  587.     See  also  Regents  Rep't, 
1898,  i:r54-55- 
'Laws  of  1834,  chap.  140;  cf.  Laws  of  1863,  chap.  48. 

*  Laws  of  1834,  chap.  241.     For  a  full  discussion,  see  Miller,  G.  F..  op.  cit. 
'  Laws  of  1853,  chap.  402 ;  1873,  chap.  642. 
""  Regents  Rep't,  i860,  p.  7 ;  cf.  Regents  Rep't,  1875,  p.  xiv. 
"  Regents  Rep't,  1867,  p.  xxiii-xxiv. 


STATE    AID    TO    HIGH    SCHOOLS    AND    ITS    DISTRIBUTION         II9 

schools  of  the  State  and  then  made  a  successful  campaign  for 
augmenting  the  annual  appropriation.^-  Upon  the  failure  to  obtain 
the  full  $200,000  asked  for,  provision  was  made  for  a  tax  of  one- 
sixteenth  mill  or  such  as  should  yield  the  equivalent  of  $125,000." 
The  campaign  had  been  largely  waged  by  the  advocates  of  the  declin- 
ing academy  and  the  appropriation  was  attacked  quite  generally  but 
with  especial  effect  by  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 
The  result  was  that  in  a  year  when  $300,000  was  embezzled  from  the 
state  treasury  and  corruption  was  at  its  height  in  both  state  and 
city  government,  no  provision  was  made  for  the  continuance  of  the 
appropriation.^*  In  1875  a  joint  committee  of  the  State  Teachers 
Association  and  the  Convocation  sought  but  failed  to  obtain  the 
unification  of  the  two  education  departments  and  the  appropriation 
of  sums  of  $61,000  each  to  the  use  of  academies  and  high  schools." 
Similarly  in  1886  a  bill  for  the  appropriation  of  $60,000  failed  to 
secure  the  approval  of  a  hostile  Governor  although  it  seems  to  have 
met  little  opposition  in  either  house." 

The  first  permanent  step  toward  increasing  the  amount  of  state 
aid  to  secondary  schools  was,  however,  taken  in  the  following  year 
when  the  additional  sum  of  $60,000  was  granted,  making  the  total 
general  appropriation  $100,000.^'  Of  this  sum,  $12,000  was  from 
the  income  of  the  literature  fund,  $28,000  from  the  income  of  the 
United  States  deposit  fund  and  the  remaining  $60,000  was  an 
appropriation  from  the  general  funds.  This  act  therefore  had  the 
effect  of  establishing  beyond  all  doubt  the  principle  of  a  fixed  state 
policy  to  aid  secondary  as  well  as  elementary  schools  from  the 
general  funds. 

In  1895  the  principle  of  granting  a  definite  quota  of  $100  to  each 
accredited  school  was  established  by  law  after  a  long  period  of 
agitation  by  the  Board  of  Regents."  And  by  1901  the  number  of 
schools  had  grown  so  considerably  that  the  total  of  annual  available 
funds  was  increased  from  $106,000  to  $350,000  exclusive  of  special 
appropriations  for  the  expenses  of  the  Board  of  Regents."    As  these 


"Regents  Rep't,  1872,  p.  477;   1873,  p.  485,  494,  591-600. 

"Laws  of  1872,  chap.  541,  736. 

"  Sowers.  D.,  Financial  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  p.  19-23. 

"  School  Bulletin,  1875,  p.  56,  92. 

^'Academy,  1:154,  192,  230;  Regents  Rep't,  1887,  p.  262;  see  Governor's 
Message  in  Senate  Documents,  1886,  no.  2,  p.  22-24. 

"  Laws  of  1887,  chap.  709.  See  Rep'ts  of  Committee  of  Assoc.  Acad. 
Principals,  in  Academy,  3 129. 

"Laws  of  1895,  chap.  341. 

"Laws  of   1901,  chap.  498. 


I20  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

and  successive  acts  took  account  of  the  methods  of  distribution, 
further  discussion  is  reserved  for  the  following  section. 

2  Distribution  and  Apportionment  of  the  Literature  Fund  and  State 

Appropriations 

Of  little  less  significance  than  the  amount  of  state  aid  are  the 
methods  of  its  distribution.  The  New  York  methods  in  both  second- 
ary and  elementary  education  show  continuous  if  interrupted 
progress  and  also  in  general  follow  similar  lines  of  development. 
By  the  end  of  the  century  the  State  had  taken  its  place  in  the  fore- 
front of  the  various  states  of  the  Union  in  this  matter.  In  the 
secondary  field  three  general  plans  of  distribution  have  been  used: 
(i)  apportionment  according  to  the  number  of  pupils  who  met  a 
minimum  requirement  as  to  course  of  study,  (2)  payment  by  results 
measured  in  terms  of  examination  credentials,  and  (3)  apportion- 
ment by  quota  based  on  inspection.  While  these  systems  over- 
lapped, they  parallel  in  a  general  way  three  different  methods  in  the 
Regents  supervision  of  secondary  schools.  Before  1865  they 
depended  almost  wholly  upon  reports  from  the  schools.  Although 
these  were  continued  after  that  date,  examinations  were  then  begun 
and  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  best  means  of  supervision  and  the 
best  basis  for  distribution  of  funds.  By  1890  inspection  was  under- 
taken seriously  and  with  it  came  a  great  development  in  the  number 
of  schools  and  therefore  in  standards  that  made  the  quota  method 
possible  and  effective.  For  a  discussion  of  these  types  of  Regents 
supervision,  see  chapters  5  and  6.  The  further  fact  that  institutions 
must  meet  certain  requirements  of  equipment,  buildings  and  endow- 
ment in  order  to  be  admitted  to  the  University  has  been  treated  in 
chapter  3. 

Although  at  the  very  outset  the  basis  of  distribution  in  practice 
as  well  as  theory  was  that  of  the  particular  needs  of  the  individual 
schools,  there  v/as  soon  developed  the  plan  of  payment  on  the  basis 
of  the  number  of  pupils  reported  by  the  schools.  In  1817  the  Regents 
passed  an  ordinance  requiring  pupils  who  were  to  be  counted  for  the 
distribution  to  pursue  the  branches  considered  preparatory  to  col- 
lege. This  practice  worked  the  hardship  of  not  giving  recognition 
to  other  than  classical  studies,  although  it  proved  a  significant  means 
of  differentiation  between  the  academies  and  the  common  schools.^" 
Consequently  in  1827  the  Legislature  provided  for  extension  of  the 


**  See  chaps,  i  and  3.     For  history  of  academic  fund  with  quotations  from 
sources,  see  Regents  Rep't,  1894,  i  :r53  flF. 


STATE   AID    TO    HIGH    SCHOOLS    AND    ITS    DISTRIBUTION  121 

distribution  to  include  both  higher  Enghsh  branches  and  classical 
branches.'^  The  legal  definition  of  the  "  preHminary  studies  "  for 
these  branches  was  revised  from  time  to  time  by  the  Regents  in  their 
instructions  and  the  ruling  was  made  that  pupils  should  be  eligible 
to  be  counted  as  classical  pupils  if  pursuing  the  elementary  classi- 
cal studies  and  the  first  book  of  Virgil.--  The  law  of  1827  further 
laid  down  the  requirement  that  pupils  to  be  counted  must  have  pur- 
sued the  required  studies  for  a  period  of  four  months,  a  clause 
which  was  not  modified  until  the  University  Law  was  completely 
revised  in  1889.  However  the  Regents  in  1864  had  defined  this 
requirement  as  meaning  13  full  weeks  of  study,-^  a  requirement 
which  fitted  well  enough  the  conditions  of  the  first  half  of  the 
century  when  pupils  went  to  school  for  short  periods  only,  but  which 
had  become  antiquated  by  the  time  the  high  schools  began  to  spring 
up  in  any  numbers. 

From  1827  to  1864  the  Regents  were  unable  to  conduct  such 
inspection  as  would  provide  them  directly  with  information  as  to 
whether  pupils  were  meeting  the  requirements  of  the  laws  and 
ordinances  or  indeed  whether  the  academies  themselves  were 
endeavoring  to  maintain  the  required  standards.  They  devised 
therefore  more  detailed  forms  for  the  annual  reports  which  no 
doubt  gave  a  fairly  true  picture  of  the  status  of  the  schools.  Refer- 
ence to  table  14  will  show  that  the  numbers  of  pupils  claimed  for 
participation  in  the  distribution  from  year  to  year  from  1850  to  1865 
bears  an  almost  constant  ratio  to  the  total  number  of  pupils  in  the 
schools  indicating  that,  while  the  school  officials  apparently  were  not 
more  prone  with  time  to  report  falsely,  the  standard  of  the  secondary 
schools  was  not  improving  generally  since  the  number  taking  ele- 
mentary branches  was  too  large.  The  same  table  gives  evidence  of 
a  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  Regents  to  eliminate  an  increasingly 
larger  number  of  those  claimed  by  the  principals,  the  causes  com- 
monly cited  being  "  short  time "  or  "  insufficient  studies."  The 
annual  reports  of  the  committee  on  the  distribution  of  the  literature 
fund  are  full  of  evidence  that  gross  carelessness  prevailed  among 
the  principals  in  the  filling  out  of  the  blanks.  In  January  1866, 
1 714  pupils  were  rejected  out  of  22,157  claimed. 


"Laws  of  1827,  chap.  228. 
^Regents  Instructions,  1849,  p.  58. 
^  Manual  of  the  Regents,  1864,  p.  62. 


122 


THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


Table  14 

Statistics  of  attendance  in  secondary  schools  and  of  the  distribution  of 

academic  funds  ^ 


SCHOOLS 
REPORTING 


PUPILS 
ENROLLED 


ANNUAL 

DISTRIBU- 

TION 

17 

912 

40 

000 

524 

470 

18 

osi 

40 

000 

I 

030 

2 

239 

22 

235 

40 

000 

3 

153 

4 

702 

20 

443 

40 

000 

3 

885 

6 

610 

6 

049 

40 

000 

2 

661 

17 

222 

7 

577 

40 

000 

4 

888 

2S 

571 

8 

356 

40 

000 

6 

536 

31 

257 

II 

547 

40 

000 

8 

92s 

25 

189 

21 

SII 

100 

000 

17 

763 

POPULA- 
TION OF 
STATE 


ISSO 
18SS 
i860 
186s 
1870 
i87S 
1880 
1885 
1890 


Total 164 

High  schools. ...      2 

Total 165 

High  schools ....     8 

Total 192 

High  schools. ...   22 

Total 202 

High  schools. ...  34 

Total 195 

High  schools. ...   73 

Total 216 

High  schools. ...  121 

Total 240 

High  schools. .  . .  156 

Total 261 

High  schools. ...  191 

T9tal 335 

High  schools. .  .  .  234 


31  S80 
850 

29  967 
I  81S 

36  951  I 
6  983  I 

36  133 
6  573 

30  775 
12  509 

30  254 
22  no 

31  254 
19  261 

37  043 
25  656 
49  514 
34  S14 


3  097  394 
3  466  212 
3  880  735 

3  831   777 

4  382  759 

4  698  958 

5  082  871 
5  540  362 
S  997  8S3 


>  Compiled  from  Regents  Rep'ts,  1851,  1856,  1S61,  1866,  1872,  1876,  1881,  1886  and  1891.  Com- 
plete accuracy  can  not  be  claimed  for  these  figures  as  schools  were  apt  not  to  report  on  all  items 
in  a  given  year.  However  the  relative  growth  of  the  high  school  and  the  relation  of  the  number  of 
schools  and  of  pupils  to  the  funds  distributed  and  to  the  total  population  are  clearly  shown.  The 
annual  sums  distributed  are  approximate. 

It  was  with  a  view  to  defining  the  standard  of  entrance  upon 
secondary  instruction  after  vainly  petitioning  the  Legislature  for  a 
change  in  the  requirements,-*  that  the  Regents  instituted  the  pre- 
liminary examinations,  in  four  elementary  studies.  At  the  outset 
about  a  third  of  the  enrolled  pupils  at  the  secondary  schools  took 
these  tests  and  the  number  rated  as  passing  even  in  the  three  years 
before  the  Regents  required  the  sending  of  the  papers  to  the  office 
was  less  than  5000.  In  1867  they  voted  that  pupils  formerly  counted 
should  still  be  counted  and  in  the  distribution  of  that  year  9012  were 
counted  on  the  basis  of  the  preliminary  examinations  of  that  year 
and  4128  on  the  basis  of  former  distributions.  This  total  of  13,140 
was  opposed  to  20,443  participating  in  the  previous  year  and  from 
this  point  there  was  steady  decline  until  1872  when  only  5783  pupils 
shared  in  the  funds,  as  against  22,685  ten  years  previously  and  22,788 
in  1854,  the  maximum  record.  Reference  again  to  table  14  will  show 
that  there  was  a  decline  in  the  total  number  so  that,  while  from  1855 
to  1865  the  average  was  about  35,000,  for  the  fifteen  years  follow- 
ing it  was  about  30,000.  By  1885  the  number  of  pupils  had  risen 
again  to  the  former  figure  and  about  one-third  were  now  regularly 


*^  Regents  Minutes,  6:306-8;  Regents  Rep't,  1858,  p.  12-13. 


STATE    AID    TO    HIGH    SCHOOLS    AND    ITS    DISTRIBUTION  I23 

counted  toward  the  distribution  of  the  hterature  fund  as  against 
about  two-thirds  before  the  estabhshment  of  the  preliminary 
examinations. 

However  by  1880,  two  years  after  the  establishment  of  the 
advanced  or  academic  examinations,  and  fifteen  years  after  the 
establishment  of  the  preliminary  examinations,  the  system  of  pay- 
ment by  results  was  extended,  the  Legislature  in  that  year  making 
provision  for  a  portion  not  to  exceed  one-fourth  of  the  literature 
fund  to  be  distributed  on  the  basis  of  the  advanced  examinations. 
In  the  meantime  the  ratio  per  pupil  counted  in  the  appropriation 
which  had  stood  at  $5.66  in  1838  and  had  declined  to  $1.95  in  1865, 
had  risen  to  $6.91  in  1872  and  declined  again  to  $4.76  in  1880.-^ 
In  three  years  more  the  amount  granted  on  examination  certificates 
based  on  these  higher  examinations  had  risen  to  $10,000  at  which 
point  it  remained  until  1887  when  the  restriction  as  to  the  amount 
that  could  be  distributed  on  this  basis  was  removed  and  the  annual 
apportionment  changed  from  $40,000  to  $100,000.  In  six  years 
the  payment  for  higher  certificates  usurped  most  of  the  fund  and 
the  question  of  the  advisability  of  continuing  this  form  of  distri- 
bution was  seriously  raised. 

The  details  of  the  allowance  of  a  part  of  the  fund  for  credentials 
were  modified  from  time  to  time.  In  1880  the  value  set  for  the 
intermediate  certificate  was  $5  and  for  each  of  the  diplomas,  aca- 
demic and  college  entrance,  was  $10.-*^  But  in  1882,  with  the  trans- 
fer of  plane  geometry  to  the  advanced  part  of  the  examination 
schedule,  the  intermediate  certificate  was  valued  at  $4,  and  the 
academic  diploma  and  the  college  entrance  diploma,  respectively 
at  $10  and  $15  each.-'  In  case  a  pupil  held  the  academic,  and 
obtained  the  college  entrance  diploma,  an  additional  $5  was  granted. 

A  new  impetus  was  given  secondary  education  in  the  latter  part 
of  this  decade,  in  part  through  the  enlargement  of  activities  of  the 
Board  of  Regents  following  the  appointment  of  a  new  secretary 
and  also  in  part  due  to  the  increase  to  $100,000  of  the  annual 
appropriation  in  1887.  From  an  annual  sum  of  approximately  $250 
a  school  in  1850  and  i860,  there  had  been  a  decline  to  about  $200  in 
1870  rmd  about  $125  in  1880.-^    With  this  addition  the  new  average 


^  The  special  one-sixteenth  mill  tax  of  1872-73  had  raised  the  total  for  that 
year  to  approximately  $30.  See  Sup't  Rep't,  1873,  p.  65,  and  Regents  Special 
kep't  in  Assembly  Documents,  1874,  no.  78. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1881,  p.  xvi. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1882,  p.  264. 

"*  Regents  Rep't,  1882,  p.  xv. 


124  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

was  -$300  or  very  nearly  that  of  1840.  A  complete  revision  of  the 
examination  schedule  in  the  year  1890-91  added  a  number  of  new 
subjects  and  an  increase  in  the  number  of  certificates  issued. 

On  this  basis  a  change  was  made  in  the  apportionment  on  cre- 
dentials. The  nature  and  purpose  of  the  changed  system  of  grants 
may  be  seen  in  the  following  quotation  :-° 

Schools  are  allowed  $5  for  each  junior  certificate  or  higher  academic 
credential  issued,  with  $5  extra  for  the  first  diploma,  and  a  second  $5  extra 
for  the  first  classical  diploma  issued  to  each  student.  This  rule  gives  a 
premium  for  the  balanced  courses  which  lead  to  diplomas  instead  of  cer- 
tificates, as  double  payment,  $10,  is  made  for  academic  and  English  diplomas 
and  triple  payment,  $15,  for  classical  and  classical-scientific  diplomas.  .  .  . 
The  school  is  thus  apportioned  $5  when  the  junior  certificate  is  allowed,  but 
not  for  any  other  20-count  certificate;  $5  more  for  the  30-count;  $5  more 
for  the  40-count;  and  for  50  counts,  $5  if  a  50-count  certificate  is  earned; 
$10  if  an  English  or  academic  diploma  is  earned;  $15  if  a  classical  diploma 
is   earned. 

For  the  first  year  under  the  new  system  there  remained  one-half 
of  the  fund.  This  was  reduced  in  the  second  year  to  about  one-third 
and  in  the  third  year  it  was  practically  wiped  out.  This  remainder 
was  distributed  on  the  basis  of  aggregate  daily  attendance  of  aca- 
demic pupils  who  now  were  defined  as  those  holding  either  the 
preliminary  certificate  covering  the  elementary  branches  or  in  lieu 
of  this  the  30-count  certificate.^" 

By  this  time  opposition  was  developing  to  the  system  of  payment 
by  results  and  there  seems  to  have  been  doubt  of  its  advantage  at 
times  on  the  part  of  members  of  the  Board  of  Regents.  In  the 
conference  of  the  Associated  Academic  Principals  in  1889,^^  reso- 
lutions were  introduced,  but  not  acted  upon,  favoring  (i)  the 
discontinuance  of  the  practice  of  publishing  in  the  school  journals 
of  the  state  lists  of  the  secondary  schools  ranked  according  to  the 
amount  of  aid  received,^^  and  (2)  a  diflferent  method  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  literature  fund.  In  June  1892  there  was  published 
in  the  last  number  of  the  Academy,  a  strong  paper  presenting 
this  opposition  view  and  claiming  that  the  results  of  the  method  were 
as  follows:  (i)  lowered  standards  of  scholarship  due  to  the  pupil's 
aim  being  centered  in  pass  cards,  (2)  an  unfortunate  system  of 
coaching  by  principals  whose  tenure  in  many  cases  depended  on  the 


**  Regents  Rep't,  1892,  p.  166-67. 

*"  Regents  Rep't,  1892,  p.  167-68. 

"  Academy,  5  :66-69. 

"See  columns  of  the  Academy  and  School  Bulletin,  1885-90. 


STATE    AID    TO    HIGH    SCHOOLS    AND    ITS    DISTRIBUTION         I25 

number  of  pupils  passed  and  (3)  neglect  of  real  teaching  and 
dependence  upon  the  Regents  syllabus  as  a  sort  of  maximum  of 
work.^^ 

The  crux  of  tlie  whole  matter  was  to  be  found  in  the  rapid  increase 
of  secondary  schools  with  consequent  decrease  of  moneys  received 
and  the  great  danger  of  the  lack  of  desirable  uniformity  in  these 
institutions.^*  The  secretary  in  his  annual  report  for  1893  called 
attention  to  these  facts  and  to  the  need  of  a  new  system  of  appor- 
tionment suggesting  (i)  the  assignment  of  $100  each  to  the  indi- 
vidual schools  which  maintained  a  satisfactory  academic  course 
and  (2)  scholarships  for  carefully  selected  pupils. ^^  During  the 
year  there  was  prepared  and  sent  out  to  each  principal  for  his 
criticism  a  detailed  discussion  of  the  various  possible  methods  of 
apportionment :  number  of  schools,  number  of  teachers,  number  of 
pupils  enrolled,  total  days  of  attendance,  results  as  shown  by  exam- 
inations and  scholarships.-''*'  The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
each  were  stated  but  the  weight  of  argument  favored  the  last  two 
plans.  On  the  basis  of  the  responses  of  the  principals,  the  Prin- 
cipals Council  drew  up  a  set  of  working  principles  of  distribution 
as  follows :  recognition  of  the  need  of  the  State  as  a  whole  and 
the  largest  number  of  citizens  rather  than  of  schools,  aid  to  be  so 
apportioned  as  to  give  the  advantage  to  progressiveness  and  to  give 
special  opportunity  to  promising  pupils.  The  report  is  best  seen 
in  the  following  quotation : 

After  deducting  for  inspection,  equipment  grants,  and  $10,000  for  aid  to 
the  most  promising  students,  it  is  recommended  that  the  remainder  of  the 
academic  fund  be  apportioned  on  the  basis  of  educational  work  accomplished 
as   shown   in  ofKcial   inspection,    sworn   reports   and  regents'   examinations.^'' 

In  April  of  the  following  year  there  was  passed  the  so-called 
Horton  law,^^  which  made  up  deficits  and  safeguarded  their  appear- 
ance in  the  future  and  supplemented  the  existing  appropriation  with 
the  annual  sum  of  $100  each  to  all  secondar}'^  schools  within  the 
University,  a  sum  equivalent  to  that  granted  per  teacher  to  the 
elementar}'  schools  for  some  time.^^ 

An  oversight  intentional  or  otherwise  of  the  Legislature  in  1897, 


^  Academy,   5  1293-97. 
^  See  table  14- 

"Regents  Rep't,  1893,  p.  r44-46;  see  also  resolution  of  University  Convoca- 
tion, p.  S48. 
'■'  Regents  Rep't,  1894,  i  -^677-84. 
"Log.  cit. 

**'Laws  of  1895,  chap.  341. 
"  Regents  Rep't,  1896,  1  :r32-35,  r70  ff. 


126  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

was  followed  by  a  successful  lobby  of  the  principals  and  the  money 
was  forthcoming  as  usual.*" 

The  new  ordinance  based  on  the  law  read: 

Besides  $ioo,  with  one  cent  for  each  day's  attendance  of  each  academic 
student,  annually  granted  by  law  of  1895,  ch.  341,  to  each  secondary  school 
in  the  university,  conforming  to  law  and  the  regents'  ordinances,  there  shall 
also  be  granted  pursuant  to  section  26  of  the  university  law  $5  for  each 
regular  academic  certificate  or  diploma  issued  and  $5  extra  for  each  pupil's 
first  diploma.*! 

It  will  be  seen  therefore  that  in  this  year  by  law  and  ordinance 
there  were  established  the  following  principles  of  great  importance 
for  the  development  of  a  sound  and  beneficent  fiscal  policy :  ( i ) 
equivalence  of  reward  for  all  diplomas,  classical  and  otherwise,  and 
thus  equivalence  of  incentive  for  the  pursuance  of  classical  and  non- 
classical  studies,  and  (2)  such  a  distribution  of  moneys  through  the 
annual  quota  that  the  need  and  effort  of  the  poorer  localities  were 
clearly  recognized.  The  continuance  of  the  distribution  of  a  por- 
tion of  the  fund  on  the  basis  of  attendance  stilled  the  opposition  for 
a  time  to  the  payment  for  results  plan.  In  fact  at  the  instance  of 
Secretary  Dewey  a  vote  was  taken  in  the  University  Convocation 
of  1896  and  the  plan  was  favored  by  two-thirds  of  those  present.*- 

The  distribution  of  over  $200,000  in  1898  was  made  as  follows : 
a  little  over  one-third  on  credentials,  nearly  one-fourth  on  quota, 
slightly  less  on  attendance  and  the  remainder  for  books  and 
apparatus.'*' 

In  the  same  year  an  important  change  was  made  in  the  method  of 
apportionment  whereby  the  requirement  of  a  certificate  in  the  pre- 
liminary branches  in  order  that  a  pupil  might  be  counted  for  the 
attendance  distribution  was  withdrawn,  provided  a  University  in- 
spector ruled  that  the  entrance  requirements  of  the  school  were  above 
the  requirements  of  the  preliminary  certificate.**  This  was  un- 
doubtedly the  outgrowth  of  the  conviction  of  Secretary  Dewey, 
former  State  Superintendent  Draper,  and  some  of  the  stronger  prin- 
cipals of  the  State  and  was  in  line  with  the  recommendations  of 
President  Eliot  in  1890  favoring  the  supplementing  of  examinations 
Avith  inspection.*' 


*•  Regents  Rcp'ts,  1897,  p.  279;  1898,  i  :  8. 

^*  Regents   Rep't,   1895,  2:rii. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1897,  i :  190-92. 

^  Regents  Rep't,  1899,  Rep't  of  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  -.332. 

**  Op.  cit.,  p.  .^32-34.     See  chap.  5  and  6. 

**  Regents  Rep't,  i8q8,  Rep't  of  H.  S.  Dcp't.  i :  r26-27. 


STATE    AID    TO    HIGH    SCHOOLS    AND    ITS    DISTRIBUTION         127 

In  1899  the  amount  granted  on  credentials  approximated  40  per 
cent,  *°  and  in  March  of  the  next  year  the  Board  of  Regents  voted  to 
increase  the  grant  for  each  day's  attendance  from  i  cent  to  3  cents 
after  October  i,  1901.*'  No  school  was,  however,  to  receive  any 
share  of  the  academic  fund  for  books  and  apparatus  unless  the  aggre- 
gate attendance  had  for  two  consecutive  years  amounted  to  1000 
days.**  Nevertheless  the  amount  granted  on  credentials  had  by  1900 
risen  to  one-half  of  the  annual  apportionment,^^  and  the  revision  of 
the  academic  syllabus  in  that  year  gave  the  much-desired  opportun- 
ity to  do  away  with  the  payment  for  results  system.  Probably  the 
practice  of  other  states  with  highly  centralized  systems  of  secondary 
education,  in  particular  that  of  Minnesota,  was  a  factor  in  its 
elimination. ^° 

At  the  opening  of  the  century  therefore,  the  principles  involved  in 
the  annual  distribution  of  funds  as  typified  in  the  act  of  1901  were 
as  follows :  ( i )  proportionately  greater  aid  to  the  weak  schools 
through  the  uniform  $100  quota;  (2)  the  stimulation  of  local  eflfort 
in  improving  library  and  apparatus  facilities  through  grants  up  to 
$250,  on  condition  of  similar  amounts  raised  by  the  communities, 
and  (3)  the  return  to  the  plan  of  distribution  of  the  bulk  of  academic 
funds  on  the  attendance  basis.  The  examination  system  with  the  ac- 
companying syllabuses  and  graded  courses  of  study  had  therefore 
completely  lost  its  function  of  forming  a  basis  for  distribution  while 
inspection  on  the  other  hand  had  become  essential  to  distribution 
because  it  determined  the  status  of  schools  as  regards  their  ability  to 
meet  the  Regents  standards. 

In  one  feature,  however,  the  charge  for  tuition  to  nonresident 
pupils,  equalization  of  opportunity  had  not  yet  been  eflfected.  In 
fact  it  had  been  felt  until  late  in  the  previous  century  that  the  old 
academy  system  had  the  virtue  at  least  of  making  no  discrimination 
in  this  regard.  In  1902  it  was  found  that  while  the  smaller  villages 
were  well  provided  with  high  schools,  they  enrolled  (yj  per  cent  of 
the  total  number  of  nonresident  pupils  and  had  one  nonresident  in 
every  4  pupils. ^^  Recent  legislation  in  Massachusetts  and  the  inter- 
est of  Governor  Odell  expressed  in  a  Convocation  address,  led  the 
Regents  to  request  an  appropriation  for  this  purpose  and  in  1903  an 


"•Regents  Rep't,  1900,  Rep't  of  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :r8-9. 

■"Regents  Rep't,   1901,  p.  209. 

**  Regents  Rep't,  1901,  p.  r48. 

*°  Regents  Rep't,  Rep't  of  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  rio-13. 

"•  Regents  Rep't,  1899-  Rep't  of  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :332-33- 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1903,  p.  ri5-i6. 


128  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

act  was  passed  setting  aside  the  sum  of  $100,000,  to  be  distributed  so 
as  to  pay  up  to  $20  a  year  of  8  months  the  academic  tuition  of  pupils 
living  in  communities  not  maintaining  an  academic  department.^- 
The  only  precedent  was  an  act  of  1873  which  had  failed  of  fruition 
because  of  a  failure  to  make  appropriations.^^  Regulations  were 
adopted  by  the  Chancellor  of  the  University  and  the  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction  governing  ehgibility  of  pupils  and  of  schools 
and  giving  an  approved  list  of  the  latter. °* 

Sums  apportioned  to  this  woi"k  were  rapidly  increased  and  the 
requirements  made  more  stringent,  particularly  in  regard  to  the 
studies.  Of  approximately  $230,000  so  distributed  in  1910,  the 
smaller  villages  of  2000  and  under  were  receiving  60  per  cent,  so  that 
the  weaker  schools  were  again  being  disproportionately  aided.  A 
considerable  amount  of  controversy  centered  about  the  fact  that  this 
type  of  aid  was  refused  the  academies  proper  but  this  was  largely 
discontinued  with  the  unification  of  the  two  state  departments  in 
1904.  Three  significant  defects  of  the  method  of  distribution  were 
remedied  in  a  revision  act  of  1912:^^  (i)  pupils  attending  more  than 
8  weeks  but  less  than  32  were  given  proportionate  aid,  (2)  pupils 
attending  from  localities  ofifering  less  than  4  years  of  high  school  in- 
struction were  counted  if  desiring  to  attend  schools  of  a  higher 
grade  and  (3)  schools  charging  more  than  the  stipulated  $20  were 
allowed  their  full  fee,  the  additional  sum  being  charged  upon  the 
district  from  which  the  pupil  came.  The  law  with  its  amendments 
proved  of  great  value  not  only  in  providing  secondary  education 
facilities  to  large  numbers  of  worthy  pupils  but  in  encouraging  the 
school  authorities  to  establish  schools  of  a  higher  grade. ^^ 

The  last  step  in  the  use  of  state  aid  to  encourage  secondary  edu- 
cation was  the  provision  in  1913  for  a  scholarship  fund,  enabling  a 
limited  number  of  graduates  of  each  county  who  attained  the  high- 
est standings  to  secure  scholarship  aid  in  the  colleges  of  the  State." 
It  was  believed  that  this  would  also  prove  to  be  a  definite  means  of 
coordinating  the  institutions  of  higher  education  and  of  disposing  of 
the  constantly  recurring  question  of  a  State  University  which  should 
teach  as  well  as  direct  and  control.^^ 


"  Laws  of  1903,  chap.  542.  An  act  of  1902,  chap.  502,  had  provided  for  free 
tuition  to  nonresident  academic  pupils  in  towns  of  St  Lawrence  county 
accepting  the  township  system. 

"^Laws  of  1873,  chap.  642. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1904,  Rep't  of  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :ri8-32. 

"  Laws  of  1912,  chap.  276. 

"Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1907,  p.  233. 

"Laws  of  1913,  chap.  292,  sec.  71. 

"Ed.  Dep't  Rep'ts.  1911,  p.  333-35;  1912,  p.  187-90,  893. 


STATE    AID    TO    HIGH    SCHOOLS    AND    ITS    DISTRIBUTION         1 29 

Summary  and  Conclusions 

1  With  the  estabhshment  of  the  University,  provision  was  made 
that  the  Regents  might  hold  and  distribute  funds.  The  first  result 
of  this  legislation  was  the  creation  of  a  literature  fund,  the  income  of 
which  year  by  year  amounted  to  sums  of  $10,000  to  $15,000  and  w^as 
distributed  among  the  academies. 

2  In  1838  shortly  before  the  high  school  movement  began,  a  part 
of  the  income  of  New  York's  share  of  the  United  States  deposit 
fund,  $28,000,  was^laced  annually  at  the  disposal  of  the  Regents  for 
secondary  education  and  for  the  next  fifty  years  a  total  of  $40,000 
was  annuall}-  distributed  to  the  University  secondary  schools. 

3  At  a  time  when  the  high  schools  equaled  the  academies  in  num- 
ber and  attendance  of  pupils,  1872-73,  a  legislative  enactment  for  one 
year  only  supplemented  these  funds  with  about  $125,000.  In  1887 
the  total  annual  appropriation  was  increased  to  $100,000  and  in  1901 
to  $300,000  and  has  been  increasing  definitely  and  rapidly  since  that 
time. 

4  Shortly  before  the  high  school  movement  was  under  way,  aid 
for  two  special  functions,  the  training  of  common  school  teachers 
and  apparatus  and  library  equipment,  began  to  be  given,  the  former 
to  selected  schools,  the  latter  to  schools  raising  equivalent  sums  up 
to  $250.  Both  types  of  aid  have  been  maintained  and  have  been 
significant  factors  in  high  school  development. 

5  The  early  method  of  distribution  of  state  aid  had  been  wholly 
on  the  basis  of  attendance,  at  first  to  all  pupils,  later  to  all  classical 
pupils  meeting  certain  standards,  then  to  all  pupils  studying  classical 
and  higher  English  branches,  the  standard  being  determined  by  the 
Regents  ordinances  and  the  law.  Finding  that  the  standard  of  in- 
struction and  of  entrance  to  academic  work  did  not  improve,  the 
Regents  as  a  means  to  the  more  adequate  distribution  of  the  state 
funds,  introduced  examinations  in  preacademic  and  later  in  academic 
subjects.  During  the  last  third  of  the  nineteenth  century  these 
served  as  the  major  factor  in  distribution,  the  attendance  basis  not 
being  entirely  set  aside. 

6  In  order  to  equalize  the  distribution  to  the  rapidly  increasing 
number  of  smaller  high  schools,  an  act  was  passed  in  1895  providing 
for  an  annual  quota  of  $100  to  each  school  in  addition  to  the  attend- 
ance and  examination  apportionments.  At  the  opening  of  the  cen- 
tury, with  the  system  of  state  inspection  of  secondary  schools  under- 
going a  marked  growth  in  efficiency,  the  examination  or  payment  for 
results  plan  was  dropped. 


130  THE    XEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

7  More  recently  the  tuition  of  nonresident  pupils  and  of  graduates 
of  less  than  four-year  high  schools  has  been  paid,  a  beneficent 
practice  in  extension  of  the  principle  of  equalization  of  opportunity. 
\\'hile  scholarships  to  academic  scholars  were  early  advocated,  no 
general  fund  was  set  aside  but  a  half  decade  ago  a  fund  was  provided 
for  a  limited  number  of  scholarships  in  New  York  colleges,  for  high 
school  graduates  meeting  the  examination  standards  most  fully. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  I.^I 


Chapter  5  ■ 

State  Academic  Examinations  and  the  High  School  Course 

of  Study 

The  New  York  law  never  established  requirements  in  regard  to 
the  school  subjects  except  as  to  the  recognized  elementary  subjects, 
physiology  and  hygiene,  and  industrial  drawing,  which  last  was 
limited  to  larger  villages  and  cities.  They  did,  however,  early  estab- 
lish the  requirements  for  entrance  upon  academic  studies.^  Con- 
sequently the  power  of  regulation  of  the  course  of  study  was  left 
largely  to  the  Regents  who  allowed  for  a  time  almost  complete  free- 
dom to  the  academies.  This  resulted  in  a  laxity  of  standard  as  to 
admission  into  the  higher  subjects  and  a  tendency  for  pupils  to 
crowd  into  them  without  adequate  preparation.  The  remedy  was 
found  in  the  Regents  examinations  which  were  tirst  applied  to  ele- 
mentary or  '*  preliminary  "  subjects  in  1865  and  to  secondary  or 
academic  subjects  in  1878.  The  intention  at  the  time  was  undoubt- 
edly to  extend  them  to  all  grades  of  instruction.  They  came 
later  to  be  applied  to  professional  subjects  but  not  to  academic 
college  subjects. 

These  examinations  soon  became  the  major  concern  of  the  Coard 
of  Regents  and  formed  until  near  the  close  of  the  century  the  main 
point  of  contact  with  the  academies  and  high  schools.  They 
exercised  a  controlling  influence  similar  to  legal  requirements  in 
shaping  the  curriculums  of  the  schools  and  there  gradually  developed 
a  state  course  of  study,  outlined  in  more  and  more  elaborate  sylla- 
buses, and  revised  quinquennially  in  the  latter  part  of  the  century. 
This  chapter  aims  to  deal  rather  fully  with  the  progress  of  the 
■'  examination  system  "  and  its  significance. 

I  Period  of  Delegation  of  the  Examining  Pozvcr  to  the  Academies, 

1 8 28- 1 86 5 
The  University  Act  of  1787  had  empowered  the  Regents  to 
"  examine  into  the  state  and  system  of  education  and  discipline  "  in 
the  academies  which  were  under  their  visitation  and  therefore  enti- 
tled to  share  in  the  state  funds.-  The  power  to  make  by-laws  for 
the  admission  of  pupils  into  the  academies  was  left,  however,  to  the 
boards  of  trustees  and  corresponding  powers  were  granted  to  the 


'  See  chap.  i. 

'Laws  of   1787,  chap.  82. 


132  Till:    XKW    YORK    STATE    II  Kill    SCIIOOT.    SVSTiai 

college  faculties  to  examine  graduates  of  the  academies  who  sought 
admission  to  their  classes.  A  further  section  provided,  "  That  to 
entitle  the  scholars  of  any  such  Academy  to  the  privileges  aforesaid, 
the  Trustees  thereof  shall  lay  before  the  Regents  of  said  University, 
from  time  to  time,  the  plan  or  system  proposed  to  be  adopted,  for 
the  education  of  the  students  in  each  of  the  said  academies,  respec- 
tively, in  order  that  the  same  may  be  revised  and  examined  by  the 
said  Regents,  and  by  them  altered  or  amended,  or  approved  and 
confirmed,  as  they  shall  deem  proper." 

In  1 817  the  distribution  of  state  funds  was  made  to  academies  for 
pupils  pursuing  subjects  "  usually  deemed  necessary  as  preparatory 
to  the  admission  of  students  to  well-regulated  colleges."  Ten  years 
later  this  requirement  which  had  been  irksome  to  many  academies 
which  preferred  to  teach  chiefly  other  subjects  than  the  classics,  was 
modified  by  the  Legislature,  and  pupils  were  allowed  to  participate 
in  the  distribution  if  they  were  pursuing  "  higher  English " 
branches.^  Neither  the  law  nor  the  subsequent  ordinances  of  the 
Regents  defined  the  content  of  these  branches,  but  both  the  ordi- 
nances and  the  occasional  instructions  prescribed  in  more  detail  than 
the  law,  the  requisite  "  preliminary  "  studies.* 

A  system  of  free  election  of  .subjects  by  academic  pupils  grew  up 
and  it  became  generally  known  that  there  were  great  numbers  of 
pupils  in  the  academies  pursuing  elementary  subjects  for  a  good 
share  of  their  time  and  also  that  many  pupils  were  taking  advanced 
or  academic  subjects  in  order  that  they  might  be  counted  for  state 
aid  when  they  had  not  mastered  the  fundamentals.  Further  explana- 
tions of  the  law  and  the  instructions  of  the  Regents  which  were 
sent  out  from  time  to  time  failed  to  secure  the  desired  results.^ 
In  1S34  the  age  of  pupils  participating  in  the  state  fund  was  raised 
to  10  years  and  in  1853  it  was  raised  to  12.®  A  further  effort  was 
made  to  safeguard  the  Regents  and  the  legal  standards  in  1853,  1\\- 
the  requirement  that  pupils  pursuing  classical  studies  must  have 
previously  met  the  requirements  of  preliminary  study  formerly 
definitely  required  only  of  English  pupils,^  and  an  affidavit  was 
required  of  the  principals  to  that  effect.  ■  Moreover  in  the  instruc- 
tions of  1828,  1834  and  1853,  the  basis  of  entrance  upon  higher 


'Laws  of  1827,  chap.  228. 

*  Regents  Instructions,   1834  and  1853. 

^Regents  Minutes,  6:306-9. 

•Regents  Minutes   (MS),  4:12.     Regents  Instructions,  1853,  p.  59,  64. 

'  Regents   Instructions,   1853,  p.   59>  63-64. 

"Ibid,  p.  77.    Cf.   Regents  Minutes,  6:275-76. 


STATI-:    EXAMIXATIOiXS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  133 

English  and,  presumably  by  implication,  also,  upon  classical  studies, 
was  to  be  an  examination  on  the  part  of  the  principal.^ 

An  interpretation  of  this  requirement  in  1856,  made  it  clear  that 
the  Regents  considered  this  examination  compulsory  and  that  the 
term  "  due  proficiency  "  which  had  been  used  to  describe  the  neces- 
sary degree  of  attainment  for  the  passing  of  a  pupil  should  be  the 
equivalent  of  the  requirements  for  entrance  in  the  same  subjects  into 
the  colleges  of  the  State.^°  Moreover  it  was  held  that  the  examina- 
tion should  preferably  be  public  before  a  committee  of  the  trustees 
as  that  would  tend  to  influence  scholarship.  In  the  following  year 
the  report  of  the  committee  on  the  distribution  of  the  literature 
fund  showed  that  the  principals'  reports  were  a  constant  source 
of  irritation."  Principals  neither  followed  specific  directions  nor 
reported  even  under  oath  the  correct  items.  The  chief  difificulty 
was  in  deciding  what  pupils  in  each  school  were  entitled  to  a  share 
in  the  distribution  and  large  numbers  of  pupils,  especially  from 
certain  schools,  were  not  counted.  The  committee  held  that  the 
theory  of  the  educational  system,  namely  that  the  academies 
should  have  a  course  of  study  advanced  beyond  the  lower 
schools,  was  not  carried  out  and  that  this  theory  demanded  that 
admission  to  the  secondary  schools  be  upon  examination  as  in  the 
case  of  the  New  York  Free  Academy  and  other  prominent  high 
schools.  They  further  recommended  that  the  requirements  which 
had  been  unchanged  for  thirty  years  should  be  revised. 

2  The  Regents  Preliminary  Exauiinatious 

Previous  therefore  to  1864,  the  Regents  had  maintained  a  sem- 
blance of  direct  control  over  the  curriculums  of  the  academies 
through  occasional  inspections,  and  more  particularly  through 
detailed  annual  reports,  the  schedules  of  which  had  to  be  attested 
by  the  principals  and  were  expected  to  give  evidence  that  pupils 
had  pursued  the  prescribed  studies.  These  studies  were  either  named 
in  or  based  upon  the  law  of  1827.  In  the  case  of  the  preliminary 
studies,  however,  the  Regents  had  supplemented  the  legal  require- 
ment of  arithmetic,  geography  and  grammar  with  reading,  writing, 
composition  and  declamation.  Also  in  the  case  of  the  statutory 
definition  of  a  classical  scholar  as  one  who  "  shall  have  advanced 
as  far  at  least  as  to  have  read  the  first  book  of  the  Aeneid  of  Virgil," 


•Regents  Instructions,  1S34,  p.  25-26;  1853,  p.  63. 
"Regents  Minutes,  6:274. 
"  Regents  Alinutes,  6 :3o6-9. 


134  Tl"-    -"^'EW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

they  had  in  1828,  1853  and  1864  made  considerable  change  in  the 
\va\-  of  addition  and  substitution,  due  no  doubt  to  changing  college 
entrance  requirements.^^  When  therefore  the  need  of  definite  action 
to  save  the  standard  of  scholarship  in  the  academies  became  apparent. 
it  was  a  logical  step  to  secure  this  by  strengthening  the  safeguard 
then  in  use,  namely  the  principals'  examination  in  the  preliminary 
studies.^^  Accordingly  in  the  report  of  1864,  Secretary  Woolworth 
urged  upon  the  Legislature  the  "  practicability  and  expediency  of 
making  the  distribution  (i.  e.  of  the  literature  fund)  .  .  .  depend 
upon  merit  as  ascertained  by  competitive  and  comparative  examina- 
tions," and  asked  for  an  appropriation  of  $5000.^*  The  recommen- 
dation was  based  on  the  practice  in  Europe  and  in  a  number  of  the 
leading  cities  of  the  Stale  in  which  high  schools  were  established. 
Failing  to  secure  legislative  action,  the  Regents  in  the  same  year 
revised  their  ordinances  and  made  the  following  new  requirements  :^' 

1  Scholars  to  be  divided  into  two  classes,  preparatory  and 
academic. 

2  Public  examinations  in  the  preliminary  branches  to  be  held  at 
the  close  of  each  term  under  the  direction  of  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  trustees  of  the  academy. 

3  Success  in  passing  the  examination  to  be  rewarded  by  a  certifi- 
cate of  a  form  prescribed  by  the  Regents,  which  was  to  entitle  the 
holder  to  admission  into  the  academic  class. 

4  Admission  to  this  class  together  with  the  fulfillment  of  the 
requirements  in  the  classics  and  a  time  requirement  to  entitle  the 
academy  to  count  such  student  for  a  share  in  the  distribution  of  the 
state  funds.^** 

Before  this  ordinance  was  put  into  efifect,  numerous  requests 
from  principals  led  the  Regents  to  send  out  examination  questions ; 
a  single  copy  was  sent  to  each  school  the  first  year  but  thereafter 
sets  sufficient  to  supply  all  the  pupils  taking  the  examination.^^  The 
examinations  were  given  for  the  first  time  in  November  1865,  and 
included  arithmetic,  geography,  grammar  and  spelling.  In  the  Uni- 
versity Convocation  of  1866  they  were  made  a  special  topic  for  dis- 
cussion, following  the  report  of  a  committee  of  investigation 
appointed  by  the  Chancellor,  and  from  this  time  on  this  body  was  a 


"Regents  Instructions,  1834,  p.  24-25;  1853,  p.  62-63;  Manual  of  the 
Regents,  1864,  p.  61-62.  A  table  of  the  changes  in  requirements  is  to  be 
found  in  Miller,  G.  F.,  op.  cit. 

"Regents  Rep't,   1866,  p.   18;    1868,  p.  xxxi-iii. 

"  Regents  Rep't,   1864,  p.   ir>-22. 

"  Manual  of  the  Regents,  1S64,  p.  60-62. 

"  See  chap.  4. 

"  Regents  Rep't.  1868,  p.  xxxii. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  I35 

significant  factor  in  h\\  the  modifications  of  the  system."  As  a 
result  of  experience  and  the  suggestions  and  criticisms  of  the  next 
few  years,  numerous  minor  changes  were  made,  the  most  important 
of  which  was  the  requirement  that  papers  claimed  as  passing  should 
be  sent  to  the  Secretary  of  the  University/®  In  1882  pass  cards 
were  first  issued  in  each  subject  so  that  a  pupil  was  not  required  to 
pass  in  a  subject  a  second  time.  From  1868  on,  the  examinations 
were  made  the  basis  of  participation  in  the  literature  fund  and  came 
into  general  use.  Several  of  the  colleges  came  to  accept  the  Regents 
certificates  in  lieu  of  their  entrance  examination  in  the  subjects 
covered. -°  The  questions  were  published  in  book  form  after  a 
period  of  ten  years,  were  officially  recommended  for  use  in  reviews 
and  came  to  be  quite  generally  used  for  that  purpose  throughout  the 
State  and  in  many  places  outside  of  the  State.^^  By  a  Regents  ordi- 
nance of  1881,--  and  by  an  act  of  1882,-^  these  certificates  were 
made  requisite  for  the  holding  of  a  diploma  from  the  teacher-train- 
ing classes  of  the  academies  and  union  schools.  In  the  latter  year 
the  Court  of  Appeals  ruled  that  prerequisites  to  law  clerkships  should 
include  this  certificate  together  with  pass  cards  in  certain  advanced 
subjects,  namely  American  and  English  history,  and  English  com- 
position.^* 

The  purposes  of  the  examinations  were  formally  stated  in  the 
annual  reports  of  the  Regents  and  the  annual  circulars  sent  out 
in  explanation  of  the  privileges  and  requirements  incident  to  the 
giving  of  the  examinations : 

1  A  uniform  standard  of  scholarship  in  studies  declared  by  the 
statute  to  be  preliminary  to  the  classics  and  the  higher  branches  of 
English  education,  as  a  condition  of  the  distribution  of  the  literature 
fund. 

2  More  thorough  instruction  and  more  exact  scholarship  in  the 
elementary  branches.^"* 

3  The  eflfect  of  the  system  in  elevating  the  general  standard  of 
scholarship  in  all  the  public  schools ;  and  the  substantial  value  to  the 
pupil  of  a  University  certificate  as  an  official  testimonial  of 
scholarship.-^ 

The  annual  reports  of  the  Regents  indicate  that  the  system  was 


''  Reg:ents   Rep't,    1867,   p.   565-69. 
"University  Manual,  1870,  p.  82-83. 
^^  Regents  Rep't,  1877,  p.  xii. 

^' The  Regents  Questions,  1866-1876.     See  School  Bulletin:  3:33,  204;  7:13, 
126. 
^^  Regents  Rep't.   1882,  p.  xxiii,  261. 
^"Laws  of  1882,  chap.  318. 

"'  Regents  Rep't.   1882,  p.  274.     Cf.  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  844. 
"^  Regents  Rep't.  1867,  p.  xxv. 
"  Regents  Rep't,   1871,  p.  426. 


136  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

in  general  favor  within  a  few  years  of  its  establishment  and  had  in 
the  main  subserved  the  interests  for  which  it  had  been  devised. 
Typical  statements  from  the  annual  reports  are  the  following : 

1  The  influence  on  scholarship  and  in  securing  a  higher  estimate 
of  those  studies  which  are  essential  in  preparation  for  the  duties  of 
life,  is  positive  beyond  anything  ever  before  experienced.-^ 

2  This  system  of  examinations,  the  most  extensive  in  respect  to 
the  number  of  institutions  and  scholars  participating  in  it,  and  the 
best  established  of  its  kind  in  the  country,  is  steadily  growing  in 
favor  and  influence  as  an  educational  agency .^^ 

Numerous  schools  came  to  make  special  occasions  of  the  distri- 
bution of  the  certificates  and  their  attainment  was  much  sought 
after.2» 

When,  however,  after  two  years  the  examinations  came  to  be  the 
sole  test  for  participation  in  the  literature  fund  and  some  of  the 
stronger  schools  had  been  forbidden  the  privilege  of  using  their  own 
entrance  examinations,  which  had  been  earlier  established  and  were 
no  doubt  somewhat  better  adapted  to  local  conditions,  as  the  Regents 
examinations  could  not  be,  opposition  arose.^°  It  seems  probable 
that  the  earlier  laissez  faire  regime  during  which  the  Regents  pre- 
scribed but  could  not  enforce  the  principals'  examinations  had 
resulted  in  almost  complete  ignoring  of  the  Regents  ordinance.  Con- 
sequently the  transition  was  hard,  especially  as  many  schools  were 
quite  unable  to  keep  their  former  rank  in  the  sharing  of  the  state 
funds.  However,  as  this  requirement  had  been  in  vogue  before  the 
high  schools  came  into  existence  and  they  were  either  under  the 
general  or  special  laws  made  subject  to  the  Regents  ordinances, 
there  was  no  redress.  Among  the  more  significant  protests  that 
arose  in  the  early  history  of  the  preliminary  examinations  and  the 
partial  or  complete  answers  of  the  Regents  are  the  following :  ( i ") 
Injustice  was  worked  upon  certain  academies  which  had  a  large 
number  of  one-term  winter  pupils  and  extra-state  pupils,  as  these 
were  unwilling  to  take  the  examinations  and  therefore  the  school's 
loss  in  state  funds  was  considerable.  The  establishment  of  the  aca- 
demic examinations  m  1878  probably  made  the  distribution  more 
equitable.  (2)  Lack  of  honesty  in  conducting  the  examinations 
existed  while  of  even  more  significance  was  the  utter  lack  of  a 
uniform  standard  in  the  grading  of  papers.    In  1870  and  thereafter 


''  Regents  Rep't,   1874,  p.  xvii. 

^  Regents  Rep't,  1877,  p.  xii. 

"Regents  Rep'ts.  1877.  p.  xii;  1878.  p.  411-12. 

"Regents  Minutes,  7:291-92,  319. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  I37 

the  papers  considered  as  passing  were  reviewed  at  the  Regents  office. 
(3)  The  questions  were  too  difficult  and  too  technical  to  be  a  fair 
test.  With  experience  there  was  considerable  modification  which 
on  the  whole  was  more  generally  favored  than  was  the  abolition  of 
the  examinations.  In  1881  supplementary  examinations  were  given 
in  arithmetic  and  geography.  (4)  There  were  tendencies  to  cram- 
ming and  to  the  concentration  of  attention  upon  the  four  subjects 
in  which  examinations  were  given  to  the  detriment  of  such  subjects 
as  history  and  composition.  The  addition  of  reading  and  of  the 
academic  subjects  met  the  latter  difficulty.  The  question  of  cram- 
ming has  always  been  a  constant  matter  of  debate.^^ 

3  Establishment  of  Advanced  or  Academic  Examinations:  Relation 
to  College  Entrance  Requircjuents,  1864-188^ 

It  is  evident  that  the  Regents  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of 
the  preliminary  examinations  had  in  mind  a  more  comprehensive 
system  including  academic  and  higher  examinations.'^  The  Uni- 
versity Convocation,^'  had  taken  for  its  official  functions,  coopera- 
tion in  the  securing  of  advanced  standards  of  education  and  the 
harmonization  of  the  various  parts  of  the  state  system.'*  The 
earlier  reports  of  the  annual  conferences  are  replete,  as  are  indeed 
the  contemporaneous  reports  of  the  other  gatherings  of  the  state's 
educators,  with  discussions  looking  toward  the  accomplishment  of 
these  ends.^^  The  establishment  of  the  academic  examinations 
in  1878  may  be  definitely  attributed  to  the  work  of  this  body. 

The  consideration  which  led  to  these  examinations  was  that  of 
college  entrance  requirements  and  their  lack  of  uniformity.  In  the 
period  of  rapid  growth  of  higher  schools  in  the  second  quarter  of 
the  century,  the  Regents  had  failed  to  create  a  clear-cut  differentia- 
tion between  the  academies  and  high  schools  on  one  hand  and  the 
colleges  and  universities  on  the  other.  The  New  York  Free  Acad- 
emy had  from  the  outset  been  more  truly  a  college  than  a  secondary 
school,  and  this  was  characteristic  of  a  number  of  the  corporate 
academies.     This  fact  is  evidenced  by  the  parallel  nature  of  the 


^'Univ.  Convoc.  Proc.  in  Regents  Rep'ts,  1867,  p.  565-69;  1877,  P-  572-74- 
Also   School   Bulletin.   2:63,   78-79.   S6-87 ;    5:99-100;   7:126.    146-47- 

''^Regents  Rep'ts,  1864,  p.  19-22;  1868,  p.  xxii.  For  a  later  effort  to  bring 
!lie  colleges  under  a  uniform  system  of  examinations  for  graduation,  see 
the  Report  of  a  Joint  Committee  of  Representatives  of  the  Colleges  and 
the  Regents,  in  Assembly  Documents,   1877,  no.  27. 

"  See  Circular  to  Principals  of  Academies,  in  New  York  Teacher,  t2:354-55. 

"Regents  Rep't.  1864,  app.,  p.  3.     Proc.  of  Univ.  Convoc.  of  1863. 

"  See  annual   reports  of  proceedings   in  the  Regents   Rep'ts,    1864-85. 


138  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

secondary  school  curriculunis  with  those  of  the  colleges  of  the 
State  and  the  further  fact  that  from  1795  to  1870,  at  least  six  of 
these  schools  had  actually  become  colleges.  It  was  charged  by  the 
academies  that  certain  colleges  admitted  students  which  were  not 
of  equal  proficiency  with  the  students  of  the  academies."^  While 
The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York  had  failed  despite  vigorous 
efforts  at  different  times  to  become  a  university  of  instruction,"^  the 
western  states  were  developing  their  state  universities  and  bringing 
the  various  parts  of  the  state  system  into  a  more  coordinate  whole. 
Without  a  state  university  and  without  sympathetic  relationships 
betw'cen  the  two  state  departments  of  education,  it  was  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  Convocation  to  make  the  first  essay  in  bringing  about 
a  more  advanced  status  of  college  instruction  and  a  sharper  differ- 
entiation of  the  courses  of  the  secondary  and  higher  schools. 

Upon  the  recommendation  of  a  special  committee  of  this  body  at 
the  third  annual  session  in  1865  after  full  discussion  in  both  the 
academy  and  college  sections,  there  was  adopted  a  suggested  pro- 
gram of  entrance  requirements  for  the  colleges  of  the  State.  The 
list  of  subjects  was  as  follows: 

Mathematics ;  algebra  to  equations  of  the  second  degree,  and  plane 
geometry. 

Greek :  Xenophon's  Anabasis,  3  books ;  and  Homer's  Iliad,  i  book 
with  prosody. 

Latin :  Caesar's  Commentaries,  4  books  ;  Virgil's  Aeneid,  6  books ; 
Cicero,  6  orations ;  Sallust's  Cataline ;  Sallust's  Jugurthine  War  or 
Virgil's  Eclogues;  Arnold's  Latin  Prose  Composition,  12  chs. 

Prerequisites :  arithmetic,  English  grammar,  descriptive  geogra- 
phy, classical  geography,  History  of  the  United  States.  Greek  and 
Roman  antiquities.^® 

This  recommendation  was  based  closely  upon  the  existing  practice, 
which  showed  the  following  status  as  regards  the  15  colleges  in  the 
State:  14  required  arithmetic  and  EngHsh  grammar;  13,  Caesar's 
Commentaries;  11,  modern  geography.  Greek  grammar,  Virgil, 
Cicero,  Latin  grammar  and  algebra;  10,  Anabasis  and  elementary  or 
United  States  history ;  9,  Greek  Reader ;  8,  Latin  prose  composition.^^ 
The  exceptions  are  geometry  and  Greek  antiquities  which  appear 
but  twice,  Sallust  and  Virgil's  Eclogues,  and  the  Iliad  which  was 
required  by  six  colleges.     Moreover  the  modal  amount  of  subject 


*"  Academy,  3:36.     Recrents  Rep't,  1891,  1:456,  459. 

"  Rep't  of  a  Select  Committee,  Apr.  21,  1857,  in  Regents  Minutes,  v.  6. 
app.  2. 

"*  Regents  Rep't,  1867,  p.  555. 

"Statistics  of  Collegiate  Education,  in  Regents  Rep't,  1866,  p.  180-84.  The 
above  is  a  compilation   from  this  source. 


STATE    KXA.MINATIONS    AND    11  Kill    SCIIOOI.    COIKSI-:  139 

matter  was  accepted  m  Cicero,  Caesar,  algebra,  Latin  prose  com- 
position and  VhgW  but  the  amount  re(|uired  by  colleges  exceeded  the 
recommendations  of  the  Convocation  in  the  Anabasis  and  the  Iliad. 
There  is  thus  clear  evidence  of  college  domination,  a  natural  con- 
sequence of  the  fact  that  the  hnal  recommendations  came  almost 
wholly  from  the  college  section  of  the  Convocation.*"  An  able 
report  presented  by  an  academy  principal  advocating  uniform  col- 
lege entrance  requirements  under  the  control  of  the  Regents  and 
additional  entrance  requirements  in  natural  philosophy,  chemistry, 
rhetoric,  geology  and  plane  trigonometr\-,  which  were  not  at  the  linic 
required  by  any  college  of  the  State,  seems  not  to  have  been  seriously 
discussed.*^ 

A  committee  report  of  the  following  year  stated  that  nine  of  the 
stronger  colleges  were  in  sympathy  with  the  recommendations,  three 
taking  exception  only  to  the  plane  geometry  requirement.*-  At  the 
same  session  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  asking  the 
Regents  to  appoint  a  committee  to  consult  with  the  colleges  and 
teachers  of  the  State  concerning  the  appointment  of  a  special  board  of 
examiners  to  conduct  college  entrance  examinations,  and  to  recom- 
mend to  the  Regents  the  desirability  of  preparing  written  examina- 
tions in  higher  English  branches  and  classics  for  academies  that 
desired  such  examinations.*^  While  nothing  came  of  these  recom- 
mendations they  indicate  the  trend  of  thought  among  the  educational 
leaders  of  the  State.  Moreover  another  issue  that  was  before  the 
minds  of  the  Regents  was  that  of  the  desirability  of  a  uniform  course 
of  study  for  academies  and  union  schools  which  should  be  rewarded 
with  Regents  testimonials  or  certificates.** 

At  the  Convocation  of  1873  a  resolution  was  passed  requesting  the 
Regents  to  establish  higher  examinations  "as  a  basis  for  entrance 
into  college."  Again  no  action  was  taken  and  it  is  probable  that  the 
colleges  would  have  maintained  exemption  from  the  nature  of  the 
law  on  the  subject  of  admission,  which  placed  that  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  faculties.^^  In  the  meantime  in  1875,  certain  of  the 
principals  established  the  Inter-Academic  Competitive  Examinations 


''Regents  Rep't,  1866,  p.  3-4,  7-8,  11. 

"  Regents  Reg't,  1866,  p.  3. 

*'  Regents  Rep't,  1867.  p.  555-59- 

*"  Regents  Rep't,  1867,  p.  574. 

"New  York  Teacher,  12:354-55;  Regents  Rep't.  1868,  p.  xxii. 

*'Laws  of  1787.  chap.  82,  sec.  xvii.  Cf.  Regents  Rep't,  1891,  p.  457. 


T40  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

under  the  auspices  of  the  Academic  Literary  Union  and  prizes  ^vere 
being  offered  in  a  number  of  the  secondary  school  subjects.*"  These 
were  a  subject  for  discussion  in  the  Convocation  of  1876  and  the 
argument  was  advanced  that  the  Regents  safeguarded  through  the 
preliminary  examinations  the  entrance  into  the  academies  but  made 
no  provision  for  incentives  to  high  standards  of  scholarship  within 
these  institutions  nor  for  securing  a  high  degree  of  merit  for  the 
diplomas  of  these  schools.*"  At  the  same  session  resolutions  similar 
to  those  of  previous  years  were  passed,*^  and  in  June  1877,  a  law  was 
secured  empowering  the  Regents  to  institute  academic  and  profes- 
sional examinations  and  setting  aside  the  sum  of  $5000  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  former.*^  The  provision  concerning  academic  examina- 
tions runs  as  follows : 

6  The  Regents  of  the  University  shall  establish  in  the  academies  and 
academical  departments  of  union  schools,  subject  to  their  visitation,  examina- 
tions in  such  branches  of  study  as  are  commonly  taught  in  the  same,  and 
shall  determine  the  rules  and  regulations  with  which  they  shall  be  conducted ; 
said  examinations  shall  be  prescrilied  in  such  studies,  and  shall  be  arranged 
and  conducted  in  such  a  manner,  as  in  the  judgment  of  the  Regents  will 
furnish  a  suitable  standard  of  gradualion  from  the  said  academies  and 
academical  departments  of  union  schools,  and  of  admission  to  the  several 
colleges  of  the  State;  and  they  shall  confer  such  honorary  certificates  or 
diplomas  as  they  may  deem  expedient  upon  those  pupils  who  satisfactorily 
pass  such  examinations. 

The  above-quoted  section  is  of  particular  interest  because  it  indi- 
cates the  large  degree  of  power  placed  in  the  Board  of  Regents  and 
because  it  recognizes  the  two  functions  of  the  academic  examina- 
tions, as  considered  in  the  discussions  of  the  Convocation:  (i)  a 
standard  graduation  requirem.ent  from  the  secondary  schools  and  (2) 
a  standard  admission  requirement  to  the  colleges.  An  act  of  1880,''^° 
crystallized  the  views  of  some  of  the  principals  and  enacted  into  law 
a  vote  of  the  Regents  by  providing  that  a  portion  of  the  literature 
fund  iTiight  be  distributed  on  the  basis  of  the  advanced  examina- 
tions.^^ The  University  Act  of  1889  renewed  the  provisions  of 
1877  and  1880  and  set  the  maximum  fee  to  be  charged  for  each 
branch  at  one  dollar,^" 


**  School  Bulletin,  2:3;  4:147;  6:10-12,  157;  7:113,  157,  158. 

*'  Regents  Rep't,  1877,  p.  572-74. 

**  Regents  Rep't,  1877,  p.  508-9.  515. 

"Laws  of   1877,  chap.  425. 

"'Laws  of  1880.  chap.  514. 

"School  Bulletin,  6:68. 

"Laws  of  1889,  chap.  529. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AM)    11  Kill    SCHOOL    COURSE  141, 

It  seems  certain  that  the  advanced  examinations  were  estabhshed 
because  of  the  success  of  the  preHminary  examinations  and  the  con- 
sequent interest  of  the  principals.  The  first  five  years  of  their  his- 
tory was,  however,  distinctly  one  of  trial  and  error.  There  was  no 
precedent  in  New  York  or  elsewhere  for  this  type  of  work  while 
the  problem  w?is  very  much  more  difficult  than  the  testing  of  ele- 
mentary work  because  of  the  diversified  curriculums  of  the 
academies.  The  only  statutory  requirement  concerning  secondary 
studies  provided  that  a  classical  student  should  be  defined  as  one  who 
"  had  advanced  as  far  at  least  as  to  have  read  the  first  book  of  the 
Aeneid  of  Virgil  in  Latin. "°^  The  Regents  in  their  instructions  had 
defined  and  redefined  this  until  in  1864,  they  interpreted  the  classical 
requirement  for  one  who  was  to  be  counted  for  the  distribution,  as 
including  the  elementary  works  prior  to  the  classics  and  the  first 
book  of  Virgil,  or  its  equivalent  in  Caesar,  Sallust  or  Cicero.^*  More- 
over, as  we  have  seen,  the  college  entrance  requirements  and  the 
recommendations  of  1865  had  taken  no  account  of  the  sciences  or 
modern  languages. 

In  table  15  are  seen  the  changes  made  in  the  advanced  examina- 
tions program  in  the  first  five  years.  The  first  draft  or  what  was 
called  the  "  first  complete  curriculum "  was  made  in  1878.  The 
decision  was  reached  by  the  Regents  after  the  presentation  of  a  paper 
and  discussion  in  the  University  Convocation  of  1877.^^  The  paper 
outlined  the  general  scope  of  the  new  examinations  and  suggested 
seven  major  groups  of  study  from  which  any  four  might  be  chosen 
and  made  the  basis  of  a  diploma.  It  also  suggested  that  the  exami- 
nations would  form  a  basis  for  admission  to  college,  a  standard 
for  diplomas  of  equivalent  value  from  the  various  secondary  schools, 
an  incentive  to  pupils  and  a  means  of  emphasis  of  the  importance  of 
the  fundamental  fields  of  knowledge.  With  this  basis  a  joint  com- 
mittee of  the  Convocation  and  the  Regents  submitted  a  program  to 
the  Board,  and  this  was  put  into  force  in  the  series  of  examinations 
which  was  offered  in  the  year  1878-79  in  four  parts.^*'  In  the  latter 
year  the  University  Convocation  took  up  the  matter  of  revision  and 
decided  upon  two  courses  of  study,  one  in  English  branches,  called  a 


"  Laws  of  1827,  chap.  228. 

"Regents  Manual,  1864,  p.  62.  Cf.  Regents  Instructions,  1834,  p.  24,  and 
1853,  p.  62.  The  establishment  of  the  system  of  examinations  practically 
annulled  the  force  of  both  the  law  and  the  Regents  ordinances  but  they 
stood  without  change  in  1882. 

"Regents  Rep't,  1878,  p.  373-74,  4ii-i7- 

"  Ibid.,  xiii,  376. 


J  42 


Till-:    XEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    S>  ST1-:.M 


Tarle 
Academic  examinations 


PLAN   OF    1878-701 

Required  subjects 
Algebra 

Amer.  (and  gen.)  hist. 
Chemistry 
Nat.  philosophy 
Physiology 
Plane  geometry 
Rhet.  &  Eng.  comp. 


Group  I  (any  4) 
Bookkeeping 
Botany 
Geology 

Mental  philosophy 
Physical  astron. 
Physical  geog. 


Group  II  (any  4) 
Drawing  (free  &  mech.) 
English  literature 
General  history 
Moral  philosophy 
Plane  trigonometry 
Science  of  govt. 
Zoology 


PL.\N  OF  1879-80  * 
Intermediate  certificate 


Graduating  course 
Algebra 
Amer.  history 
Physical  geog. 
Physiol.  &  hyg.' 
Plane  geometry 
Rhet.  &  Eng.  comp. 

Academic  diploma 
Group  I  (any  4)  ' 

Bookkeeping 

Botany 

Drawing 

Geology 

Moral  philosophy 

Plane  trig. 

Polit.  economy 

Science  of  govt. 

Zoology 

Group  II  (any  4)  ' 
'Astronomy 
Chemistry 
English  literature 
General  history 
Mental  philosophy 
Natural  philosophy 
Trig,  (complete) 


College  enl.  course 
Algebra 
Amer.  hist. 
Caesar,  2  books 
Geog.,  desc.  &  class.  ' 
Greek  grammar 
Latin  grammar 
Plane  geometry 

College  enl.  diploma 

Caesar,  2  addit.  books 
Cicero,  6  orations ' 
Latin  prose  comp. 
Sallust,  Cataline 
Sallust,  Jugur.  War,  or 

(Virgii,  Eclogues) 
Virgil,  Aeneid,  6  books  • 
Greek  &  Roman  antiq.' 
Homer,  Iliad,  i  book  • 
Xenophon,  Anab.  3  bks." 


Substitutes  for  group  II  Substitutes 
French  •  French  ' 

German  German 

Greek «  Greek 

Latin »  Latin 


'  Regents  Rep't,  1870,  p.  xi. 

-  The  e.xamination  in  drawing  was  chiefly  through  specimens  presented. 

'The  schedule  of  examinations,  June  1878  to  June  1870  (see  Regents  Rep't,  1879,  p.  xii) 
provided  for  an  elementary  and  advanced  examination  in  these  subjects. 

«  Regents  Rep't,  i88o,p.  xi-xiii.  Revised  in  conformity  to  Rep't  of  Committee  of  Convocation, 
1879  (see  Regents  Rep't,  1879,  p.  484-85). 

'  For  physiolog>'  and  hygiene,  for  i  study  of  group  I  and  i  study  of  group  II,  i  year's  work  in 
foreign  language  could  be  substituted  and  for  other  courses  in  groups  I  and  II,  advanced  language 
credits. 

'  These  subjects  were  divided  into  two  parts  for  the  examinations  which  were  given  in  year 
1S79-80;  Regents  Rep't,  1880,  p.  xii -xiii. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE 


143 


15 

plans,  1878-83 


PLAN    OF    1881-82  ' 

Intermediate  certificate 


Academic  course 
Algebra 
Amer.  hist. 
Physical  geog. 
Physiology  &  hyg. 
Plane  geometry 
Rhet.  &  Eng.  comp. 


College  eni.  course 
Algebra 
Amer.  hist. 
Caesar,  4  books 
Plane  geometry 


PL.\N  OF  1882-83  " 
Intermediate  certificate 


Academic  course 
Algebra 
Amer.  hist. 
Physical  geog. 
Physiology 
Rhet.    &    Eng.   comp. 


College  ent.  course 
Algebra 
Amer.  hist. 
Caesar,  4  books 


Academic  diploma 
Group  I  (any  4) 
Bookkeeping 
Botany 
Geology 

History  of  Greece 
Moral  philosophy 
Polit.  economy 
Science  of  govt. 
Zoology 


Group  II  (any  4) 
Astronomy 
Chemistry 
Eng.  literature 
History  of  England 
Mental  philosophy 
Physics 
Plane  trig. 
Roman  history 


Substitutes  ' 
Caesar  (for  3  subjects) 
French  trans,  (for  2  subjects) 
German  trans,  (for  2  subjects) 
Virgil,  Aeneid  (for  2  subjects) 
Cicero,  Orations  (for  i  subject) 
Sallust,  Cataline  (for  i  subject) 
Virgil,  Eclogues  (for  i  subject) 


Coll.  ent.  diploma  '• 


Cicero,  6  orations 
Latin  prose  comp. 
Sallust,  Cataline 

Virgil,  Eclogues 
Virgil,  Aeneid 

Homer,  Iliad,  3  books 
Xenophon,  Anab.  3  bks. 


Academic  diploma 
Group  I  (any  4) 
Bookkeeping 
Civil  govt. 
Eng.  literature 
History  of  England 
History  of  Greece 
History  of  Rome 
Mental  philosophy 
Moral  philosophy 
Polit.  economy 

Group  II  (any  4)  " 
Plane  geom.  reqd. 
Astronomy 
Botany 
Chemistry 
Drawing 
Geology 
Physics  _ 
Plane  trig. 
Zoology 


Substitutes  ' 
Caesar  (for  3  subjects) 
French  trans,  (for  2  subjects) 
German  trans,  (for  2  subjects) 
Virgil,  Aeneid  (for  2  subjects) 
Cicero,  Orations  (for  i  subject) 
Sallust,  Cataline  (for  i  subject) 
Virgil,  Eclogues  (for  i  subject) 


Coll.  ent.  diploma 


Cicero,  6  orations 
Latin  comp. 
Sallust,  Cataline 

Virgil,  Eclogues 

Plane  geom.  reqd. '2 
Homer,  Iliad,  3  bks. 
Xenophon,  Anab.  3  bks. 


'  Combined  in  one  examination,  "  Classical  geog.  and  antiquities." 

'Regents  Rep't,  1881,  p.  468-69;  Instructions  of  1881. 

'  Substitutes  allowed  for  all  but  algebra,  American  history,  geometry  and  two  subjects  of  group 
I  and  two  subjects  of  group  II. 

">  Classical  geography  and  antiquities  as  well  as  Latin  and  Greek  grammar,  included  in  other 
examinations,  due  to  labor  of  preparing  papers. 

"Syllabus  of  examinations,  Dec.  1882,  in  Regents  Rep't,  1882,  p.  269-77. 

'2  Plane  geometry  no  longer  required  for  intermediate  certificate  but  on  recommendation  of 
University  Convocation  of  1882,  placed  later  in  course. 


144  TWE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

graduating  course  and  one  in  classics,  for  college  entrance/'  The 
recommendations  of  principals  and  the  test  of  experience  led  the 
Regents  to  bring  about  the  moditied  program  of  examinations  of 
i88i.^*  A  still  different  program  was  devised  the  following  year 
which  was  the  product  of  the  Convocation  and  a  special  committee 
and  grew  out  of  two  able  papers  which  were  presented.^^  One  of 
these  detailed  the  history  of  the  examinations  and  the  other  sum- 
marized the  views  of  about  one-third  of  the  principals  of  the  State 
in  answer  to  a  questionnaire.  Their  answers  indicated  that  while 
most  favored  the  continuance  of  the  examinations  all  favored 
definite  modifications. 

The  division  of  the  curriculum  into  intermediate  and  advanced 
studies  and  the  further  dilterentiation  into  the  academic  or  graduat- 
ing, and  the  college  entrance  courses  were  the  more  striking  changes 
made  in  the  first  year  (see  table  15).  Completion  of  each  course 
gave  the  pupil  a  special  diploma.  Further  than  this,  political 
economy  was  added,  American  and  general  history  were  separated, 
and  the  subject  of  trigonometry  was  divided.  In  addition  a  number 
of  changes  were  made  in  the  grouping  of  courses.  Reference  from 
the  college  entrance  course  to  the  admission  requirements  recom- 
mended in  1865  reveals  the  fact  that  these  subjects  are  identical 
except  for  minor  details  within  each  subject.  This  course  was  made 
required  without  any  options. 

We  may  now  turn  to  tlie  question  of  the  origin  of  the  examina- 
tion plans  and  of  their  change  from  year  to  year.  The  first  plan 
was  in  the  main  made  up  by  taking  the  subjects  taught  in  the  largest 
number  of  secondary  schools  reporting.  A  comparison  with  the 
schedule  of  textbooks  given  in  the  last  report  available  at  the  time 
shows  that  all  the  subjects  listed  in  more  than  25  per  cent  of  the 
schools  that  were  considered  secondary  in  nature  were  included 
except  Roman  antiquities  and  the  principles  of  teaching  '^^  (table  16). 
The    former   of    these    subjects    could   be    cared    for  in  the  Latin 


"  Regents  Rep't,  1880,  p.  474,  483-85. 

"  Regents  Rep't,   1881,  p.  490-97. 

••Regents  Rep'ts,  1882,  p.  285-86;  1883.  p.  283,  307-37. 

"^  Regents  Rep'ts,  1877  and  following.  This  summary  gives  the  texts  used 
and  not  the  subjects  taught  in  the  various  schools,  but  a  comparison  with 
earlier  reports  where  the  other  practice  was  in  vogue  indicates  that  the 
numbers  parallel  each  other  closely  and  that  no  considerable  error  is  made. 
The  numbers  slightly  exceed  the  number  of  academies  as  a  few  schools 
report  two  books.  Nine  subjects,  taught  in  less  than  ten  schools  each,  are 
omitted  from  the  first  column. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE 


145 


examinations  and  the  latter  was  provided  for  in  the  special  examina- 
tion for  teachers  classes.  However,  presumably  because  they  were 
universally  taught,  two  elementary  subjects  appeared  in  the  list, 
bookkeeping  and  geography,  the  latter  as  physical  geography.  Of 
subjects  taught  in  less  than  25  per  cent  of  the  schools,  drawing  and 
zoology  were  included.  Similarly  the  seven  required  subjects  in  this 
plan  were  obtained  by  taking  the  highest  ten  subjects  and  eliminating 
the  three  foreign  languages. 


Algebra 

Latin  grammar. 


Natural  philosophy .  .  . 
Physiology  &  hygiene. 

Bookkeeping 

Rhetoric 

Greek  grammar 


German 

Botany , 

Chemistry 

U.  S.  history. .  . 

Astronomy 

French 

General  history . 
Geometry 


Geology 

Trigonometry 

Law  and  government . 
History  of  literature .  . 

Princ.  of  teaching 

Roman  antiquities. .  . , 

Moral  philosophy 

Surveying 

Intel!,  philosophy 

Mythology 

Anal,  geometry , 

Natural  history 

Criticism 

Logic 

Christianity 

Zoology 

Natural  theology .... 
Grecian  antiquities .  .  , 

Meteorology 

Mineralogy 

Navigation 

Political  economy 

Physical  geography.  . 

Drawing 

History  of  Rome .... 
History  of  Greece .  .  .  , 
History  of  England .  . 
Cicero's  Orations .... 
Xenophcn's  Anab .  .  . 
Caesar's  Commen .  .  . 

Homer's  Iliad ._ 

Sallust's  Cataline .... 

Latin  comp 

\^rgirs  Eclogues 

Virgil's  Aeneid 


Table 

16 

jxtbook 

s  in  use 

in  the  secondary  schools^ 

186^-66 

1S75-76 

1S77-7S 

1S81-S2 

1SS4-8S 

222 

226 

231 

249 

243 
124 

Beginning 
Higher 

217 

224 

218 

231 

229 
94 

Grammar 
Lessons 

201 

193 

192 

204 

192 

ISO 

178 

188 

179 

258 

175 

174 

137 

173 

192 

40 

164 

178 

183 

249 

iss 

155 

ISS 

160 

107 

147 

Grammar 
Lessons 

115 

146 

160 

147 

202 

146 

146 

147 

164 

144 

94 

145 

153 

118 

IS6 

IS7 

134 

185 

197 

238 

145 

130 

133 

120 

144 

184 

130 

131 

84 

121 

07 

113 

122 

100 

57 

I8S 

103 

189 

213 

235 
83 

Plane 
Solid 

69 

94 

104 

100 

129 

109 

93 

91 

75 

61 

59 

87 

106 

176 

338 

32 

85 

81 

no 

157 

108 

80 

81 

59 

70 

62 

59 

61 

68 

59 

60 

20 

48 

83 

SO 

55 

28 

18 

82 

48 

77 

IS 

SI 

62 

46 

62 

49 

37 

29 

18 

33 

37 

46 

30 

28 

39 

27 

29 

46 

26 

23 

16 

23 

38 

48 

56 

35 

IS 

10 

33 

IS 

15 

14 

II 

16 

14 

24 

II 

s 

27 

14 

5 

26 

13 

29 

20 

159 

60 

52 

so 
40 

65 
218 

52 

80 
64 

118 

III 
98 

191 
70 
58 
54 
51 

137 

1  Compiled  from  Regents  Rep'ts,  1877,  p.  453-66;  1879,  p.  441-55;  1883,  p.  270-73;  1886,  p. 
676-82.  In  the  last  two  reports,  books  were  omitted  which  appeared  less  than  10  times  for  a 
period  of  4  years.  The  order  of  subjects  is  that  of  the  greatest  frequency  for  187S-76,  in  which 
year  10  subjects  are  omitted  as  the  total  number  of  texts  was  less  than  10.  In  1882,  natural 
philosophy  was  called  physics,  and  history  of  literature,  English  literature. 


146  THE    NEW     YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

In  the  Regents  Report  in  1882  occurs  the  statement  that  the  ad- 
vanced examinations  are  intended  to  "  include  the  subjects  usually 
taught  in  academies  and  ...  to  form  a  suitable  standard  for 
academic  instruction."  Comparison  of  the  textbook  schedules  from 
year  to  year  (table  16)  with  the  programs  of  examinations,  shows 
that  to  no  small  degree  the  examinations  were  shaping  the  secondary 
standard.  Political  economy,  as  a  subject  for  secondary  instruction, 
was  presented  as  was  also  drawing  in  the  Convocation  of  1879,  and 
the  former  was  placed  in  and  retained  in  the  course,  although  taught 
in  less  than  25  per  cent  of  the  schools."*  Similarly  zoology,  mental 
philosophy  and  moral  philosophy  have  failed  to  become  at  all  gen- 
erally taught  but  are  retained.  Natural  philosophy,  later  called 
physics,  having  been  placed  in  the  elective  group  lost  in  numbers  of 
schools  taught  while  physical  geography  appeared  in  the  list  and  was 
taught  in  more  than  one-half  of  the  schools.  Also  the  subjects  his- 
tory of  Rome,  history  of  Greece  and  history  of  England  appeared 
simultaneously  in  the  examination  schedules  and  the  academy  curri- 
culums,  about  one-fifth  of  the  schools  introducing  these  courses  in 
two  }ears.  Many  other  shifts  in  the  relative  place  of  subjects  may 
be  noted  by  reference  to  table  16.  Nothing  is  more  interesting  and 
suggestive  as  proving  the  influence  of  the  examinations  than  that 
\vhile  there  are  16  subjects,  largely  scientific  in  nature,  each  taught 
in  more  than  ten  of  the  reporting  secondary  schools  in  1876  which 
were  not  included  in  the  examination  schedule,  but  two  such  sub- 
jects remained  in  1882  despite  the  fact  that  the  number  of  schools 
reporting  had  increased  nearly  20  per  cent. 

The  changes  made  in  the  examinations  in  the  classical  and  modern 
foreign  languages  are  of  particular  interest.  After  a  trial  of  one 
year  of  dividing  all  but  the  German  into  elementary  and  advanced 
subjects  for  examination  purposes,  the  following  year  saw  a  change 
into  nearly  a  score  of  subdivisions  of  these  branches.  This  entailed 
so  much  labor  that  the  subject  examination  plan  was  adopted  in 
1881.®'  At  this  time  also  Sallust's  Jugurthine  War  was  dropped, 
and  the  Grecian  and  Roman  antiquities  and  classical  geography  were 
combined  with  other  branches.  Caesar  was  given  as  a  whole  in  the 
intermediate  course  and  Homer's  Tliad  according  to  common  college 
practice  was  raised  from  one  to  three  books.  Moreover  more  weight 
was  given  to  the  languages  in  the  academic  course  so  that  a  pupil 
could  elect  to  take  that  diploma  with  strictly  classical  work.     The 


"  Regents  Rep't,  1880,  p.  547-52,  618-33. 
"  Regents  Rep't,  1880,  p.  xi-xiii. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  I47 

justice  of  the  increased  weight  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  classics  took 
much  more  time  than  the  science  courses  which  in  most  cases  were 
taught  from  the  Steele's  fourteen  weeks'  series.  The  intention,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  have  been  to  place  a  premium  upon  classical  sub- 
jects as  the  classical  or  college  entrance  diploma  was  rewarded  with 
a  larger  sum  of  money  from  the  literature  fund,  and  which  as  a 
special  incentive  was  printed  in  Latin.  The  intermediate  certificate 
was  retained  but  plane  geometry,  though  still  required,  was  made  a 
part  of  the  more  advanced  curriculum.  The  Regents  preliminary 
certificate  remained  a  prerequisite  for  higher  certificates  but  the  re- 
quirement was  removed  that  it  must  be  obtained  before  entrance 
upon  the  study  for  higher  certificates. 

A  paper  read  at  the  Convocation  of  1878  presented  a  favorable 
report  on  the  adoption  of  a  uniform  admission  requirement  but  the 
discussion  revealed  the  fact  that  sentiment  was  by  no  means  unan- 
imous.®' While  the  college  entrance  course  continued  for  some  time 
to  parallel  closely  the  requirements  of  the  colleges,  the  next  decade 
saw  but  one-fourth  of  the  colleges  announcing  the  acceptance  of  the 
Regents  pass  cards  or  diplomas  in  lieu  of  entrance  examinations.®* 
In  table  17  may  be  seen  the  status  of  college  entrance  requirements 
in  New  York  colleges  during  the  period  under  discussion.  In  most 
instances  the  data  represent  the  classical  or  literary  course.  Of  27 
subjects  not  listed  in  the  table  and  occurring  in  three  schools  or  less, 
16  are  in  the  field  of  the  classics.  Of  the  remainder,  physics,  natural 
philosophy,  civil  government  and  drawing  appear  but  once  each 
while  rhetoric  and  physiology  appear  three  times  each.  In  the 
report  of  1877.  but  six  colleges  report  the  scientific  course  leading  to 
the  B.S.  degree  while  in  1883  the  number  has  increased  to  eight.®^ 
However  the  entrance  requirements  were  the  same  except  for  one 
school  omitting  Latin  and  Green,  two  omitting  Greek  and  one 
omitting  the  Greek  and  most  of  the  Latin.  As  to  the  divergence  of 
the  entrance  requirements  in  1880  from  the  plans  of  1865  and  1879, 
it  may  be  seen  that  only  Sallust's  Jugurthine  War  and  Virgil's 
Eclogues  have  quite  lost  their  place  and  that  there  is  some  decline  in 


"  Regents  Rep't,  1879,  p.  577-79. 

**  See  Regents  Rep't,  1882,  p.  261 ;  the  statement  is  made  that  most  colleges 
accept  the  Regents  certificates  in  part  or  in  whole.  The  Secretary  (Regents 
Rep't,  1892,  app.  4,  p.  401-2)  a  decade  later  held  that  most  colleges  accepted 
these  credentials  although  not  all  printed  this  fact  in  their  catalogs.  An 
nnchallenged  statement  was  made  in  the  University  Convocation  of  1894  (see 
Regents  Rep't,  189?.  i  :326)  that  all  the  colleges  of  the  State  hut  one  were 
arrepting  Regents  diplomas. 

"  See  Regents  Rep't,  1877,  ff.  for  annual  reports  of  colleges. 


148  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

the  generality  of  the  Greek  requirement,  three  women's  colleges 
permitting  French  to  be  substituted.  It  was  undoubtedly  the  change 
in  college  practice  that  made  the  algebra  requirement  "  through  quad- 
ratics "  in  the  examinations  plans  as  opposed  to  the  program  of  1865. 

Table   17 
Entrance  requirements  in  New  York  colleges,  1880  ^ 

SUBJECTS  COLLEGES  * 

abed      e     f     g     It      i     j     k      Imnopqrstuv 

Latin  grammar xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Latin    prose    composi- 
tion         XXXXXX  X  XX  XX  XX  XX 

Caesar,  Commentaries,  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  xxx 

Cicero,  Orations xxxxxx           xxxx           x           x           x  xx 

Virgil,  Aeneid xxxxxx           xxxx           x           x           x  xxx 

Virgil,  Eclogues x           xx                                               xxx           x  x 

Sallust,  Cataline xxx                             xxx                             x  x 

Greek  grammar xxxxxxxx'xx                 x'xxx  'xx 

Greek     prose     compo- 

^  sition X  X  x  x  x 

Xenophon,  Anabasis  ..xxxxxxxx'xx                                   x  x 

Homer,  Iliad xxxxxx           x           xx                        '           x  'x 

Ancient  geography  ....xxxx  x 

Arithmetic xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Algebra xx4     4xx           xxxxxx           *     x     *     *  <x 

Plane  geometry xxxxxx           xxxx           xxxxxx  xx 

English  grammar xxxxxxx           xxxx           xxxxx  xxx 

Composition x  x  x  x 

Geography x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x  x     x     x     x 

History  of  the  U.  S..  .  .  x  xxx     xxxxx  xx  xxxx 

1  Regents  Rep't,  1883,  p.  x-xiv.  Checked  by  less  complete  reports  of  1877  and  intervening  years, 
and  showing  very  few  changes  during  the  period  under  discussion. 

-Key  is  as  follows:  a,  Columbia;  b.  Union;  c,  Hamilton;  d,  Hobart;  e.  New  York  University;; 
/,  Madison;  g,  St  John's;  h,  Rochester;  1,  Elmira;  j,  St  Lawrence;  k,  Alfred;  i,In£;ham;  m,^t  Stephen's' 
n,  St  Francis  Xavier;  o,  Yassar;  p,  Manhattan;  q,  Cornell;  r,  College  of  the  City  of  New  York: 
i,  Rutgers;  /,  Wells;  u,  Syracuse;  v,  St  Bona  venture's. 

'  German  or  French  might  be  substituted  in  these  three  colleges  for  women. 

*  Quadratics  included  in  the  requirement  of  seven  colleges. 

In  1880  the  first  syllabus  \vas  prepared  and  furnished  to  the 
secondary  schools.  It  covered  28  pages  and  included  36  branches  of 
study  and  attempted  to  "  define  the  extent  to  which  the  examinations 
will  be  carried  in  each  branch  and  to  furnish  some  suggestions  as  to 
the  best  method  of  pursuing  the  study."""  In  the  preliminary  state- 
ment or  foreword  it  was  held  that  the  chief  purpose  of  the  examina- 
tions w*as  as  a  means  to  the  just  distribution  of  the  literature  fund. 
but  that  great  advantages  were  evident  in  the  elevation  of  standards 
of  scholarship  and  study.  The  necessity  of  written  academic  ex- 
aminations was  brought  about  because  of  the  inability  of  the 
Regents  in  practice  to  supervise  personally  the  principals'  examina- 
tions. "  The  chief  difficulty  in  the  administration  of  the  system  has 
been  the  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  courses  of  study,  in  the  textbooks 
used  and  in  the  methods  of  instruction."  However,  many  subjects 
could  not  be  included,  and  three  reasons  were  given;  the  diversity  of 


"  Regents  Rep't,  1881,  p.  xvii,  462-97- 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  I49 

methods,  the  lack  of  any  common  standard  of  treatment  and  tlie 
difliculty  in  some  subjects  of  testing  by  means  of  written  examina- 
tions. Among  these  subjects  were  Spanish  and  ItaHan,  phono- 
graphy, gymnastics  and  agriculture.  It  was  hoped  that  the  schools 
would  continue  to  *'  give  instruction  in  whatever  additional  studies 
their  peculiar  circumstances  demand."  The  further  suggestion  was 
made  that  the  subjects  given  in  the  examination  progi-am  should  not 
be  crowded  into  too  brief  compass  but  arranged  in  a  systematic 
course. 

The  revised  syllabus  of  1882  had  for  its  most  distinct  contribution 
four  suggested  schedules  for  schools  using  the  advanced  examina- 
tions."' The  classical  course  was  arranged  on  a  four-year  plan  and 
the  graduating  or  academic  course  on  a  three-year  plan,  with  three 
differentiations  to  suit  the  desires  of  those  who  wished  to  give  respec- 
tively a  mathematical,  scientific  or  classical  emphasis.  These  were 
later  incorporated  in  the  Regents  Manuals  and  also  often  copied  in 
the  school  catalogs  as  the  curriculums  of  the  schools. 

In  conclusion  it  is  seen  that  by  1882  when  the  advanced  examina- 
tions had  been  in  use  for  5  years  and  the  preliminary  examinations 
for  17  years,  the  system  had  become  well  intrenched  and  had  passed 
from  the  experimental  stage.  Coming  in  at  a  time  when  prizes  and 
rewards  of  merit  were  very  commonly  given,  it  received  criticism 
largely  for  features  that  could  be  and  were  eliminated  by  the  test  of 
experience.  The  secondary  schools  were  given  an  opportunity  to 
find  their  place  in  the  educational  system  much  more  completely,  the 
preliminary  examinations  enabling  them  to  dififerentiate  the  sec- 
ondary course  of  study  from  the  elementary,  and  the  advanced  ex- 
aminations with  the  prepared  syllabuses  having  a  similar  function, 
and  one  of  only  slightly  less  importance,  in  putting  a  stop  to  unwise 
competition  with  the  colleges  at  a  time  when  the  latter  were  under- 
going rapid  adjustments  and  extending  their  curriculums  and  courses 
of  study.  There  came  about  a  degree  of  fixity  in  the  formerly  fluid 
and  unstandardized  secondary  curriculum,  a  condition  which  had 
been  encouraged  by  the  fact  that  state  aid  could  be  had  in  the  past 
for  any  high-sounding  subject  which  seemed  not  to  be  elementary  in 
nature.  In  general,  the  practice  of  the  better  schools,  academies 
and  high  schools  alike,  was  made  the  norm  for  all  secondary  schools 
in  the  University. 


''  See  Regents  Rep't,  1882,  p.  261-77.     The  report  gives  a  brief  interpreta- 
tive statement  but  not  the  syllabus  proper. 


150  THE    NKW    YORK    STATE    HIGPI    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

4  Revision  of  i8po 

Except  for  the  addition  and  division  of  subjects/*  and  for  the 
revaluation  of  the  substitutions  of  the  classics,  no  sweeping  changes 
were  made  until  1891  when  the  practice  of  quinquennial  revisions 
was  begun.  The  half  decade  preceding  was  characterized  by  vigor- 
ous discussions  of  the  examinations  in  the  conferences  of  the  Uni- 
versity Convocation  and  the  Associated  Academic  Principals.  The 
problem  of  chief  concern  was  that  of  preparing  academic  pupils  for 
the  nonclassical  college  courses.  In  1887  the  Associated  Academic 
Principals  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  the  colleges  and 
obtain  suggestions  as  to  the  possibility  of  uniform  entrance  require- 
ments. Responses  largely  favorable  came  from  only  eight  of  the 
colleges  and  the  committee  was  not  continued.-'^  A  second  committee 
was  appointed  in  1889,  this  time  representative  of  the  University, 
the  colleges  and  the  principals,  and  in  the  following  year  is  pre- 
sented a  report.'"  The  net  result  of  the  committee's  work,  of  the 
suggestions  of  over  one-half  of  the  principals  in  reply  to  a  ques- 
tionnaire and  of  the  discussions  of  the  conference  of  1889  was  tlie 
indorsement  of  a  new  diploma.  The  old  academic  diploma  was  to 
be  called  the  English  diploma  and  to  be  modified  only  by  the  addi- 
tion of  certain  subjects  in  advanced  mathematics  and  science.  In  the 
classical  diploma,  substitution  of  Greek  composition  for  plane 
geometry  was  to  be  made,  and  the  substitution  values  of  the  various 
Latin  subjects  were  to  be  changed.  The  new  or  modern  diploma 
was  to  give  special  attention  to  the  modern  languages,  the  neglect  of 
which  resulted,  according  to  the  view  of  the  colleges,  in  pupils  being 
unfitted  for  the  entrance  into  the  newer  and  scientific  courses. 

When,  however,  the  Regents  devised  a  complete  new  arrange- 
ment of  courses  and  credits  which  has  become  the  basis  of  the 
present  system,  little  or  no  attention  seems  to  have  been  paid  to  this 
plan.  In  the  new  program  which  was  adopted  only  after  ''  Proof 
under  Revision  "  had  been  sent  to  the  principals  for  criticism  twice,'^ 
and  discussed  fully  in  the  Associated  Academic  Principals  Con- 
ferences of  1890  and  1891,  the  number  of  subjects  was  greatly  in- 
creased and  a  new  system  of  weighting  of  subjects  in  terms  of  counts 


"  Regents  Rep't,  1894,  i  :r64.  To  the  15  academic  subjects  of  1879,  there 
were  the  following  additions:  i  in  1881,  3  in  1883,  2  in  1885,  i  in  1889,  16  in 
1890,  and  10  in  1892. 

"Academy,  4:27-33,  37-40. 

■"Academy,  5:14-21,  72. 

'*  Regents  Rep'ts,  1891,  i  :24i-49.  291-94,  402-31 ;  1892,  p.  159-75.  271-78, 
282-88,  307-9;  1893,  p.  307-11.     Academy,  6:40-41,  43. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE 


I=il 


was  adopted.  The  count  was  interpreted  as  representing  lo  weeks' 
work  in  a  course  which  a  pupil  pursued  parallel  with  two  other 
studies  and  in  which  he  recited  five  times  a  week/-  The  whole 
number  of  branches  in  the  nine  groups  of  studies  was  increased  to 
68  and  the  counts  were  distributed  as  follows:  ten  were  given  4 
counts  each;  two,  3  counts  each;  forty-four,  2  counts  each  and 
twelve,  I  count  each,  or  a  total  of  146  counts.  The  precedent  for 
this  system  of  evaluation  was  to  be  found  in  the  earlier  practice  of 
allowing  language  credentials  to  be  substituted  for  more  than  single 
credentials  in  other  subjects.  Table  18  indicates  the  range  of  sub- 
jects, the  extent  of  subdivision  into  branches  and  the  weighting  in 
the  revision  of  1890  as  against  that  in  1888  and  1895. 

Table  18 
Weighting  of  subjects  in  Regents  examinations,  1888,  1890,  1895^3 


SUBJECTS 

1SS8 

1S90 

189s 

BRANCHES 

WEIGHTING 

BRANCHES 

COUNTS 

BRANCHES 

COUNTS 

I 
I 

6 

6 
8 

4 

5 

2 
2 
9 
4 
6 
8 
7 
4 

16 
3 

3 

8 
4 

10 
0 
8 

32 
12 
12 
15 
0 
17 
20 
16 
13 

17 

3 
3 
9 

5 

10 
10 

7 

36 

12 

12 

26 

18 

Mathematics 

16 
20 

18 

Others 

12 

Totals 

40 

47 

68 

146 

71 

170 

The  leadership  of  Cornell  among  the  New  York  colleges  and 
the  offering  of  scientific  courses  in  a  number  of  the  colleges  natur- 
ally led  to  the  largely  increased  values  given  to  natural  science  and 
mathematics.  The  greatest  development,  however,  took  place  in 
the  English  studies.  Rhetoric  and  literature  were  broken  up  into  two 
branches  each  and  courses  were  added  as  follows :  elementary 
English,  advanced  English,  English  reading  and  six  reading  courses. 
The  Regents  definitely  sought  to  change  the  emphasis  from  technical 
grammar  and  rhetoric  to  reading  and  to  popularize  the  subject.'* 


■^  Regents  Rep't,  1892,  p.  160. 

'*  Manual   of    the   University,    1888,    p.   72;    Regents    Rep'ts,    1892,   p.    160; 
1S05.  II,  p.  438.     In  1888  and  1890  the  preHminary  branches  are  inckided. 
'■'  School  Rev.,   1 :229,  232. 


1^2 


THE    XEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


There  was  also  among  the  principals  and  college  faculties  a  general 
feeling  that  much  more  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  subject  both 
in  its  practical  and  cultural  phases.''^ 

The  values  of  the  old  certificates  and  diplomas  were  modified  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  and  new  ones  were  added.  These  changes 
may  be  seen  in  table  19."*^ 

Table  19 
Required  counts  for  each  type  of  certificate,  1890 


CERTIFICATES 


TOTAL 
COUNTS 


English     Foreign 


M.\THE- 

HIS- 

M.\TICS 

SCIENCE 

TORY 

4 

2 

4 

2 

4 

7 

6 

4 

2 

4 

8 

6 

6 

8 

2 

4 

II 

6 

10 

II 

2 

S 

6 

6 

6 

II 

10 

10 

II 

2 

6 

14 

12 

12 

OTHER 
STUDIES 


Preliminary 

Medical  students  • 

Law  students 

Junior 

Academic  diploma ' 

English  diploma 

Classical  diploma 

Classical-scientific  diploma  '. 


'  This  and  the  law  students  certificate  are  introductory  to  professional  degrees. 

'  This  diploma,  unlike  the  others,  allowed  a  considerable  freedom  in  election.  The  requirements 
were  the  14  counts  in  the  preliminary  subjects,  6  counts  each  in  the  language  group,  the  mathe- 
matics group,  and  the  science  group  and  6  from  the  groups  remaining.  It  could  be  taken  in  such 
a  way  that  if  12  or  more  counts  were  earned  in  one  subject,  the  name  would  be  attached,  as  Latin 
academic,  or  if  6  were  elected  in  each  of  two  subjects,  a  similarly  appropriate  name,  as  Latin-sci- 
entific. In  every  case  10  of  the  12  counts  must  be  in  advance  of  the  preliminary  studies.  The 
20  units  listed  under  English  were  really  to  be  taken  from  the  language  group  as  a  whole  and 
the  6  under  history  from  history  and  other  studies. 

''  'ihis  diploma  prepared  for  entrance  into  advanced  classes  in  the  State  Normal  College  at  Albany. 


Other  features  of  the  new  system  may  be  noted  here.  Additional 
subjects  might  be  had  in  the  examinations,  if  the  request  were  gen- 
eral enough  and  in  the  first  year,  1890-91,  fifteen  such  subjects  were 
included.'^'^  Pass  cards  continued  to  be  issued  and  without  restric- 
tion as  to  the  sequence  of  subjects.'^^  However,  in  contrast  to  this 
apparent  policy  of  laissez  faire  in  the  matter  of  sequence  in  studies, 
two  programs  were  suggested,  one  for  the  classical  and  one  for  the 
English  diploma.  Each  covered  three  years  and  was  arranged  in 
quarters  so  as  to  accommodate  the  giving  of  36  counts,  additional  to 
the  14  counts  in  preliminary'  subjects. '^^     A  study  of  these  programs 


"Academy.  5:43;  Regents  Rep'ts,  1891,  1:232,  379-402;   1892,  p.  308-9. 
''  Regents  Rep't,  1892.  p.  162-66.     An  evident  error  in  the  case  of  the  Eng- 
lish requirement  in  senior  English  certificate  is  corrected. 
"  Regents  Rep't,  1891,  i  -.21$. 
"  Ibid. 
'*  Regents  Rep't,  1892,  p.  169-70. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  I53 

as  well  as  of  the  requirements  for  the  various  certificates  clearly  in- 
dicates that  the  Regents  were  utilizing  the  better  organized  courses 
of  study  of  the  larger  high  schools  and  the  recently  developed 
courses  of  study  of  the  colleges  much  more  than  at  the  outset.*'' 

Syllabus.  Brief  summaries  or  outlines  of  the  major  topics  of  each 
of  the  studies  in  which  the  Regents  examinations  w-ere  held  were 
made  in  1880  and  1882.  The  intention  had  been  to  offer  a  guide  to 
method  as  well  as  subject  matter,  and  the  statements  appear  to  have 
been  the  result  of  the  queries  and  suggestions  of  principals  and 
teachers.  A  more  extended  treatment  was  given  in  1888,  and  the 
new  branches  of  that  year  were  added.®^  The  next  syllabus  is 
dated  April  1891  and  followed  the  rather  radical  changes  described 
in  the  preceding  section.^-  Sixty-two  separate  subjects  with  sixty- 
nine  branches,  thirty-four  of  which  were  required  for  the  English 
or  classical  diplomas,  were  treated.  The  amount  of  detail  varied 
from  a  statement  in  two  lines  concerning  Virgil's  Eclogues  to  a 
50-page  statement  wath  illustrations  in  drawing  and  form-study 
which  the  Board  had  decided  to  require  for  the  junior  certificate.*^ 
A  relatively  large  amount  of  attention  was  given  to  the  sciences. 
History  followed  in  amount  of  space  given  and  then  mathematics, 
and  then  English  and  the  foreign  languages.  In  at  least  two  cases 
credit  was  given  to  individual  principals  who  helped  in  the  revision. 
In  fact  the  Associated  Academic  Principals  Conference  became  a  de- 
termining factor  in  the  whole  matter  of  organization  and  administra- 
tion of  the  examinations.**  The  following  quotation  is  perhaps  the 
best  statement  that  can  be  made  concerning  the  intended  functioning 
of  the  syllabus : 

The  detailed  syllabus  which  is  given  below  has  been  prepared  with  the 
view  of  indicating  more  definitely  the  scope  and  character  of  the  examina- 
tions in  the  several  subjects.  It  is  hoped  that  in  this  way  the  diversity  in 
preparation  which  tends  to  arise  from  the  use  of  different  text-books,  and 
from  the  different  methods  of  instruction  may  be  obviated.  It  is  not  the 
design  to  interfere  with  that  freedom  and  flexibility  which  ought  to  exist  in  a 
system  of  instruction  so  extended  as  that  conducted  in  the  academies  of  the 
state;  but  only  to  specify,  with  such  exactness  as  may  be  practicable,  the 
subjects  and  the  extent  in  each  subject  from  which  the  candidates  in  these 
examinations  will  be  held  responsible  ...  It  will  be  expected  .  .  .  that  the 
instruction  in  the  various  subjects  of  examination  will  be  kept  up  with  the 
advance  made  in  them.     The  deficiencies  of  particular  text-books  must  not 


Regents  Rep't,  1892,  p.  182,  163   (footnote),  291-93. 

Regents  Rep't,  1892.  app.  I,  p.  i. 

Regents  Bulletin,  no.  5,  April  1891,  in  Regents  Rep't,  1892,  app.  I,  p.  1-158. 

Regents  Rep't,  1893.  P-  347-49,  549-51- 

Regents  Rep't,   1895,   i  792. 


154  I'm-    ^'EW    YORK    STATE    IIKUl    SCHOOL    SVSTKM 

be  pleaded  in  extenuation  of  inadequate  knowledge,  but  must  be  supplemented 
by  the  enterprise  of  the  teacher.^s 

The  nature  and  scope  of  the  suggestions  made  may  be  seen  best  by 
ilhistration  with  some  of  the  subjects  of  study. 

English  language  and  literature.  The  objects  of  these  courses 
were  defined  as  skill  in  oral  and  written  expression  of  thought  and 
the  cultivation  of  a  taste  for  good  reading.  The  supplementary 
statement,  however,  is  made  and  borne  out  in  the  later  pages  of  de- 
tailed treatment  that  the  courses  in  literature  and  rhetoric  were 
planned  to  make  the  pupil  familiar  with  literary  criticism  and  to 
enable  him  to  pass  upon  the  merits  of  the  great  masterpieces.  In 
the  examination  in  reading  and  to  a  large  extent  in  writing  the  prin- 
cipals were  allowed  a  free  hand.  Spelling  was  to  be  tested  by  a 
prepared  list  of  lOO  words.  In  elementary  English  the  general 
statement  that  the  course  should  be  made  practical  and  include  com- 
position work,  dictation  etc.,  was  followed  by  a  list  of  subordinate 
topics:  general  topics  (largely  grammatical),  prefixes  and  suffixes, 
stems,  practical  exercises.  Advanced  English  followed  the  same 
general  lines  but  was  also  to  include  an  outline  of  the  history  of  the 
English  language.  English  composition  and  rhetoric  were  similarly 
graded  to  each  other,  both  treating  of  the  general  principles  of  the 
sentence,  paragraph  and  theme.  In  the  case  of  rhetoric  three  pages 
were  devoted  to  qualities  of  style,  figures  of  speech,  kinds  of  dis- 
course, versification  and  poetry.  The  courses  in  American  and  Eng- 
lish literature  were  outlined  in  even  more  detail  and  had  three  gen- 
eral features,  the  study  of  lives  and  works  of  authors,  reading  of 
certain  listed  works  of  a  large  number  of  writers,  and  the  detailed 
study  of  certain  prescribed  classics  for  each  year. 

Other  subjects.  German  and  French  only  were  divided  into 
courses  to  cover  three  years.  In  physiology  and  hygiene,  fifteen 
topics  were  given  of  which  all  had  to  do  with  physiology  except  two, 
emergencies  and  diseases.  General  history  for  the  first  time  in  the 
syllabus  was  outlined  in  detail  under  three  heads,  ancient,  medieval 
and  modern.  Civics,  which  took  the  place  of  civil  government,  was 
divided  into  principles  and  forms  of  government,  national  govern- 
ment, state  governments  and  laws  relating  to  American  citizens. 
Economics,  which  took  the  place  of  political  economy,  included 
definitions,  production,  distribution  and  exchange.  In  stenography 
the  divisions  of  the  subject  for  the  three  separate  counts  were  to  be 
made  on  the  ability  to  write  50,  75  or  100  words  a  minute  and  to 
transcribe  these  in  longhand  or  on  the  typewriter. 


Resjents  Rep't,  1S03,  p.  7-8. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COLKSE  I55 

5  Revision  of  i8pj 

The  next  revision  of  the  examination  program  and  syllabus  came 
in  1895.  It  followed  therefore  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten 
of  the  National  Education  Association  and  was  adoj^ted  only  after 
full  consideration  of  that  report/''  Principal  Robinson  of  the 
Albany  High  School,  one  of  the  two  secondary  school  men  on  the 
committee,  was  a  leader  in  the  conferences  and  also  caused  to  be  pub- 
lished in  the  School  Review  an  extensive  correspondence  between 
himself  and  Dr  Charles  Eliot,  chairman  of  the  committee.**'  In  the 
discussions  and  correspondence  objection  was  made  to  the  following 
actual  or  implied  features  of  the  committee's  report:  (i)  the  idea 
that  preparation  for  college  necessarily  constituted  also  the  best 
preparation  for  life;  (2)  the  lack  of  comparative  evaluation  of  the 
various  subjects  of  study;  (3)  the  lack  of  any  place  given  to  drawl- 
ing, music,  political  economy  and  manual  training  and  an  undue 
emphasis  on  mathematics  and  language;  (4)  the  limitation  in  the 
proposed  schedules  to  15  hours  of  recitation  a  week  while  many 
schools  required  a  larger  number. 

The  revision  did  not  bind  the  schools  closely  to  the  program  of 
ihe  Committee  of  Ten.  In  fact  little  change  was  made  in  the  posi- 
tion of  subjects  in  the  earlier  suggested  schedules.  An  exception 
was  made  in  the  case  of  English  composition  which  was  changed 
from  the  last  to  the  first  year.  A  careful  and  detailed  explanation 
was  made  of  the  divergence  from  the  recommendations  in  the  order 
of  subjects  in  the  schedules.'*^  Physiology  was  to  be  given  in  the 
first  year  because  it  was  required  by  law  of  all  pupils  and  on  account 
of  the  importance  of  hygiene.  The  histor}^  of  the  United  States  was 
to  be  given  in  the  first  year  because  contrary  to  the  anticipation  of 
the  committee  it  w^as  not  ordinarily  required  for  entrance.  Physics 
was  given  in  the  third  year  so  that  mathematics  could  precede  and 
chemistry  follow^ 

This  so-called  fourth  revision  of  the  syllabus  did,  however,  give 
opportunity  for  a  rather  thorough  working  over  of  all  phases  of  the 
examination  system.  Among  the  more  significant  changes  were  the 
following: 

I  The  number  of  diplomas  was  reduced  to  one,  the  academic,  and 


"'Regents  Rep'ts,  1893,  p.  531-40;  1895,  1:272-33^,  397-99.  703-11.  72i- 
"  School  Rev.,  2  -.366-72.    This  magazine  was  in  a  sense  the  successor  to  the 
Academy  and  was  during  this  period  the  best  clearing  house  for  the  discus- 
sions of  problems  regarding  the  New  York  secondary  schools. 
**  Regents  Rep't,  1895,  2  -.273-77. 


156  TIIR    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

consequently  the  premium  of  $5  for  the  classical  diploma  was  dis- 
continued. 

2  The  counts  for  various  subjects  were  increased  or  decreased  to 
suit  their  supposed  importance  or  difficulty. 

3  A  four-year  high  school  course  was  planned  instead  of  the  three- 
year  course  of  the  preceding  syllabuses  and  the  basis  of  the  year's 
work  was  increased  from  10  to  12  counts. 

4  One  of  the  four  annual  examinations  was  dropped  and  the 
schools  were  urged  to  consider  the  possibility  of  only  two  instead  of 
three. 

5  United  States  history,  physiology  and  drawing  were  absolutely 
specified  for  the  first  year  certificate. 

6  A  three-year  English  course  was  mapped  out  and  English  made 
a  requirement  to  the  extent  of  one-sixth  of  the  total  amount  of  each 
year  of  high  school  work. 

7  Emphasis  was  thrown  on  the  longer  and  more  continuous  courses 
favoring  treatment  of  a  less  superficial  kind. 

8  Psychology  (mental  science)  and  ethics  (moral  science)  were 
dropped  and  home  science  added.^° 

The  policy  of  the  Regents  during  the  interval  since  the  last  revision 
had  been  to  obtain  the  best  thought  of  the  principals  and  letters  were 
sent  out  in  1892  and  following  years,  inquiring  as  to  the  length  and 
difficulty  of  the  examinations  and  affording  opportunity  for  com- 
plaints or  recommendations.  This  established  a  growingly  more 
favorable  attitude  of  the  teachers  and  principals  and  the  growth  of 
the  numbers  taking  the  examinations  w'as  more  rapid  relatively  than 
that  of  the  numbers  of  academic  pupils.  It  was  held  also  that  small 
schools  sought  admittance  to  the  University  for  the  advantage  of  the 
examinations.  Vigorous  discussions  continued  to  be  held  before  the 
various  state  meetings,  this  topic  consuming  a  disproportionate 
amount  of  attention.  The  annual  reports  of  the  Regents  discussed 
at  some  length  the  value  of  the  system,  reviewing  discussions  in  the 
current  educational  literature  of  this  and  foreign  countries  and 
answering  in  detail  objections  that  continued  to  be  raised  against  the 
narrowing  tendencies  of  the  examinations.  As  early  as  1889  the 
work  of  conducting  and  reviewing  the  examinations  made  necessary 
the  creation  of  a  separate  department  and  in  1895,  with  the  thirtieth 
annual  report  concerning  examinations,  a  complete  volume  of  Soo 
pages  was  given  to  this  topic. 

Just  as  the  preceding  revision  had  done  most  in  effecting  a  stand- 
ardization of  subjects  by  means  of  the  count  system,  the  present 


"Regents  Rep't,  1895,  2:i-6-ri2,  265-67,  ^tz-^A;  Regents  Rep't,  H.  S.  Dep't, 
I  :5-7. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  I57 

re\isioii  gave  a  substantial  impetus  to  the  development  of  systematic 
four-year  courses.  The  center  of  interest  was  in  the  courses  in 
English  which  had  grown  so  numerous  and  varied  that  the  premium 
had  been  placed  on  short  and  unrelated  courses.  Little  stress  had 
been  placed  upon  the  subject  in  the  early  plans,  but  after  a  period  of 
nearly  two  decades  the  colleges  were  coming  to  set  definite  and 
increased  requirements. 

The  Convocation  of  1895  considered  as  its  major  topic  the  ques- 
tion "  \A''hat  do  the  colleges  want  of  the  secondary  schools  ?"  and 
devoted  the  time  to  English,  mathematics,  sciences,  Latin,  Greek  and 
modern  languages.''''  The  Association  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory 
Schools  of  the  Middle  States  and  Maryland  appointed  a  committee 
to  inquire  into  the  status  of  English  teaching.  The  report  stated 
that  the  great  lack  was  that  of  "  unity  of  effort  and  harmony  of 
method  in  teaching."^^  An  English  inspector  was  appointed  in  1896, 
and  in  December  of  that  year  a  questionnaire  was  sent  out  to  ascer- 
tain what  the  colleges  of  the  State  were  requiring  for  entrance.  The 
results  showed  a  great  variety  of  practice  and  the  report  brought  the 
matter  home  to  the  minds  of  all  by  the  quotation  of  sample  sets  of 
examination  papers  of  the  various  colleges.®-  A  canvass  of  the  sec- 
ondary school  teachers  showed  them  about  equally  divided  between 
two  major  aims  of  teaching  English,  (i)  habits  of  good  oral  and 
written  expression  and  (2)  taste  for  and  acquaintance  with  good 
literature.®^ 

In  the  January  1893  number  of  the  School  Review  there  had  ap- 
peared a  paper  by  Professor  Hart  of  Cornell  on  the  "  Regents 
diplomas  and  school  certificates  in  English."  On  the  basis  of  a 
study  of  the  poorest  32  students  in  a  freshman  class  of  179,  he 
argued  that  the  admission  of  pupils  by  certificate  or  Regents 
credentials  in  English  should  be  abolished.  He  held  that  the 
tendency  was  to  give  cram  courses  and  that  many  schools  lacked  a 
specific  plan  for  English.  As  a  result  of  the  paper  and  the  growing 
interest  in  the  matter,  a  small  conference  of  secondary  and  college 
teachers  was  held  in  the  same  year.®*  and  the  Convocation  gave  a  full 
afternoon  to  the  discussion  of  a  three-year  course  in  English  and 
voted    favorably  upon  it.®^     In  the  meantime  the   Cornell    faculty 


*'Res:ents  Rep't.  189s,   1:787-829. 

"Ibid.,  p.  788. 

"'"  Resents  Rep't.   tSo",   Rep't  of  Exam.   Dep't,  p.   ^-^2 

^  Ibid.,  p.  536. 

'*  School  Rev.,  i  :2q6-300. 

"*  Regents  Rep't,  1894,  p.  411-50. 


158  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

voted  not  to  accept  students  on  school  certificates  and  the  Regents 
a  few  days  later  adopted  the  following  resolution  : 

That  the  Regents  require  satisfactory  teaching  of  the  English  language, 
especially  in  composition,  for  at  least  3  hours  each  week  during  the  academic 
course,  as  a  condition  of  admission  to  the  University  or  of  retention  on  the 
list  of  institutions  in  good  standing  and  entitled  to  receive  apportionment 
from  the  academic  fund." 

As  interpreted  by  the  Regents,  this  meant  three  periods  of  40 
minutes  each  or  four  of  30  minutes  in  work  in  composition  and 
literature,  reading,  writing,  rhetoricals  etc.'-*^  The  Regents  at  the 
same  time  voted  to  ask  the  principals  to  consider  the  advisability  of 
making  legible  and  accurate  English  a  necessity  for  pass  cards  and 
certificates  and  also  for  a  special  inspector  in  English. 

The  most  definite  reform  in  the  English  program  for  1895  was 
therefore  the  establishment  of  a  permissive  three-year  course  in 
English  in  addition  to  the  other  fifteen  separate  braitches.^^  This 
course  was  determined  in  part  by  the  curriculums  of  the  stronger 
New  York  high  schools  and  in  part  by  the  efforts  of  different  state 
and  national  associations  to  create  a  graded  and  unified  course  in 
English.  Its  subject  matter  included  rhetoric,  composition  and  liter- 
ary classics.  The  problem  continued  to  be  a  major  topic  of  discus- 
sion at  state  educational  gatherings  and  the  field  was  unorganized, 
"  an  undiscovered  country."^^  In  1898  a  study  was  made  of  the 
opinions  of  the  principals  as  regards  the  advantages  of  the  new 
arrangement  over  the  old  and  the  few  replies  received  showed  that 
there  were  real  gains  educationally,  although  the  tiine  element  was 
greater  and  this  made  teachers  loath  to  try  it  out.^ 

A  brief  review  of  the  general  movement  toward  uniform  college 
entrance  requirements  which  attracted  so  inuch  attention  in  the  first 
quinquennial  of  the  century  is  in  place  here,  when  it  is  remembered 
that  the  New  York  acadeinic  examinations  had  largely  grown  out 
of  this  conception.  By  1896  it  was  practically  the  sole  topic  for 
discussion  at  the  various  conferences  on  secondary  and  higher  edu- 
cation in  New  England  and  elsewhere.  In  February  of  that  year 
representatives  from  Cornell,  Pennsylvania,  Columbia,  Princeton, 
Yale  and  Harvard  met  at  New  York  at  the  call  of  President  Seth 
Low.       Detailed  recommendations  were  made  concerning  Greek, 


**  School  Rev.,   1:195,  232.     The   Cornell    faculty  then  voted  to  accept  the 
Kecents  requisites  in  English;  see  School  Rev.,  2:36. 
"  School  Rev.,  i  :226.  233. 
**  Regents  Rep't,  i8qs,  2  •.2gi-g4. 
"Regents  Rep't,  1898,  1:12-37,  281-84. 
'  Regents  Rep't.  1899,  p.  15,  365 ;  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :350. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COL^KSE  I59 

Latin,  histury,  mathematics  and  natural  science.^  In  the  same  year 
a  more  representative  committee  was  appointed  by  the  National 
Education  Association  with  the  following  purpose :  "  To  investigate 
entrance  requirements  and  to  report  on  ways  and  means  of  securing 
such  uniformity  in  extent  and  method  as  will  be  conducive  to  the 
best  interests  of  both  higher  and  secondary  education.''^  The  com- 
mittee's report  is  a  mine  of  information  as  to  the  existing  practice  in 
the  leading  colleges  of  the  country.* 

In  New  York  State  the  problem  took  concrete  form  in  a  contro- 
versy about  the  change  of  policy  in  Cornell,  which  after  the  opening 
of  the  century  was  to  give  but  one,  instead  of  five  degrees,  namely 
the  A.B.  Resolutions  were  tabled  in  the  1896  meeting  of  the  Asso- 
ciated Academic  Principals  both  favoring  and  opposing  this  action/^ 
In  a  long  discussion  defending  the  change  President  Schurman  held 
that  any  study  as  well  as  the  classics  could  give  real  discipline  and 
that  a  student's  time  should  be  distributed  among  the  various  fields 
of  learning.''  The  counter  argument  was  to  the  effect  that  the  A.B. 
had  always  stood  for  classical  subjects  and  that  the  change  meant  a 
definite  lowering  of  standard.'^ 

Neither  the  Academic  Principals  nor  the  Regents  were  able  to 
work  out  a  program  to  which  the  colleges  could  agree.^  All  recog- 
nized more  fully  than  hitherto  the  interests  of  secondary  schools 
and  the  fact  that  the  high  school  could  serve  its  local  constituency 
better,  if  given  freedom  from  restrictions  looking  toward  uniformity. 
In  a  discussion  of  the  elective  system  in  the  Convocation  of  1898. 
President  Eliot  and  Dean  Butler  held  that  the  tendency  in  New  York 
even  more  than  elsewhere  was  to  allow  interest  in  an  established 
course  of  study  and  a  uniform  curriculum  to  overshadow  the 
problem  of  the  needs  of  adolescent  children  for  a  practical  educa- 
tion.^ 

A  further  specific  indication  of  the  influence  of  the  revised  ex- 
amination requirements  was  the  extension  of  time  of  various  courses 
so  that,  for  example,  the  typical  physics  or  chemistry  course  covered 
40  weeks  as  opposed  to  12  or  13,  the  course  in  United  States  history. 


'Ibid.,  p.  419,  460.  535-38. 

'  Proceedings  of  N.  E.  A.,  1896,  p.  558-59. 

*  School  Rev.,  4 :34i-46o. 

'Regents  Rep't,  18^98,  1:12-13,  185-^. 

•Ibid.,  p.  64-78. 

'Ibid.,  p.   103-8. 

'  The  former  voted  to  ask  the  Association  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory 
Schools  to  consider  the  question  of  uniform  college  entrance  requirements ; 
Reerents  Rep't,  1895,  i  :6i2. 

*  Regents  Rep't,  1899,  i  :2i8-5o. 


l6o  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

similarly,  while  Caesar  and  geometry  were  raised  to  40  as  opposed  to 
20  weeks. ^°  Furthermore  on  account  of  the  increased  attention  to 
correcting  the  defects  of  English,  the  Regents  were  enabled  so  to  re- 
vise their  ordinances  as  to  withhold  full  credit,  when  papers  were 
deficient  in  English.  As  a  general  view  of  the  efficacy  of  the  sys- 
tem, may  be  quoted  the  statement  of  Doctor  Harris,  then  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education : 

The  Regents  have  proved  that  a  state  examining  board  can  exercise  a  stimu- 
lating, elevating  and  unifying  influence  upon  hundreds  of  institutions  of 
secondary  education  scattered  over  a  large  state,  and  can  wield  that  power 
with  machinery  which,  considering  the  scale  of  operations,  may  fairly  be 
called  simple  and  inexpensive." 

6    Revision  of  1900 

The  revision  of  1900  was  little  less  significant  than  that  of  1895 
except  that  the  changes  on  the  whole  were  somewhat  less  radical. 
An  unusually  large  part  was  taken  by  the  Associated  Academic  Prin- 
cipals and  the  contribution  of  various  state  and  national  associations 
of  teachers  was  more  specifically  used  than  hitherto. 

A  committee  of  the  principals  was  appointed  in  1895  and  began 
work  in  1898.  During  that  year  two  letters  were  sent  out  to  the 
principals  of  the  State  relative  to  revision.  Numerous  suggestions 
were  sent  in  by  scattering  replies  but  these  did  not  indicate  any 
definite  agreement  or  unanimity  of  opinion.^-  With  this  beginning 
the  committee  decided  that  any  changes  should  be  recommended 
only  after  full  discussion  in  the  meetings  of  the  whole  body.  In  a 
preliminaiy  report  the  committee  held  that  too  many  subjects  were 
being  pursued  by  secondary  pupils,  that  they  were  insufficiently 
correlated  and  that  the  classical  course  was  regarded  as  preparing 
for  college  but  that  the  general  course  led  nowhere. ^^  An  advanced 
position  was  taken  in  the  expression  of  the  view  that  any  good 
four-year  course  should  prepare  for  college  and  that,  if  it  did  not. 
the  college  was  at   fault. 

In  1898  a  new  committee  was  appointed  consisting  of  two  of  the 
three  members  of  the  former  committee  and  five  others  and  under- 
took the  specific  task  of  preparing  and  recommending  parallel 
courses  of  study,  academic,  commercial,  manual  training,  and 
domestic  science  as  well  as  mapping  out  a  program  for  history  and 


Regents  Rep't,  1897,  i  :r50-5i. 

Ibid.,  p.  r73. 

Regents  Rep't,  189Q,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  367-68. 

Ibid.,  p.  369-74.  789-96. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    niGII    SCHOOL    COURSE  l6l 

science.^*  A  letter  was  sent  out  in  November  of  the  same  year 
asking  the.  schools  to  report  on  what  they  considered  ideal  courses 
and  what  were  their  actual  courses  of  study.  Out  of  io8  schools  re- 
porting the  results  were  as  follows :  2  reported  an  actual  and  9  an 
ideal  general  course;  71  reported  an  actual  and  14  an  ideal  classical 
course;  81,  an  actual  and  13  an  ideal  Latin-scientific  course;  31,  an 
actual  and  8  an  ideal  modern  language  course ;  57,  an  actual  and  8 
an  ideal  English  course.  Sixty-seven  different  subjects  or  branches 
of  subjects  appeared  in  the  actual  classical  course,  68  in  the  actual 
Latin-scientific  course  and  67  in  the  actual  English  course.  A  com- 
parable study  of  the  entrance  requirements  of  25  colleges  showed, 
as  was  to  be  expected,  a  less  wide  range  as  follows:  40  subjects  or 
branches  in  the  classical  course,  42  in  the  Latin-scientific,  45  in  the 
scientific  course  and  41  in  the  English  course.^^ 

Partial  reports  of  the  committee  were  made  to  the  Associated 
Academic  Principals  in  1898,  and  to  the  Convocation  in  1898  and 
1899.  The  final  report  was  printed  in  December  1899  and  became 
the  basis  of  detailed  discussion  in  the  meeting  of  the  former  body  in 
that  year.^"  Its  recommendations  were  taken  up  separately  and 
voted  upon.  They  were  so  closely  followed  in  the  final  revised 
syllabus  that  an  analysis  here  is  unnecessary.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  the  result  is  clearly  a  product  of  the  discussion  of  the 
bodies  of  teachers  and  principals  of  the  secondary  schools  and 
colleges  and  yet  was  representative  of  the  University  in  its  effort  to 
work  out  the  programs  desired  by  that  body  and  in  the  inclusion  of 
one  of  the  inspectors  in  the  membership  of  the  committee.  Special 
committees  reported  on  business  subjects,  English,  mathematics, 
science  and  history,^^  In  general  their  reports  were  accepted  by 
the  committee  on  revision.  The  history  committee  secured  the 
postponement  of  this  matter  until  1905.  Of  especial  interest  were 
the  recommendations  of  the  committee  for  courses  or  working 
programs  of  studies  for  each  of  four  years  of  the  high  school  course 
and  for  specific  courses  of  study,  the  liberal,  including  ancient  lan- 
guage, modern  language,  and  combined  ancient  and  modern  lan- 
guage courses,  the  professional,  including  courses  preparatory  to 
law,  medicine  and  teaching,  and  the  technical,  including  courses  in 
manual  training,  commercial  and  home  science.^*     The  Regents  took 

"  Ibid.,  p.  374-75,  404-15. 
"Ibid.,  p.  376-79,  416-22. 

^'Printed  in  full  in  Regents  Rep't,  1900,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :r28-32.     For 
discussion,  see  p.  439-64. 
"Ibid.,  p.  338-439. 
"  Regents  Rep't,  1900,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  r32-42. 


l62  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

no  action  in  this  matter  probably  because  the  step  was  too  much  in 
advance  of  the  status  of  the  great  majority  of  secondary  schools. 

The  new  syllabus  which  went  into  effect  in  August  1900  differed 
essentially  from  earlier  syllabuses  in  the  following  respects : 

1  The  much-debated  system  of  payment  for  results  was  aban- 
doned. 

2  Fourteen  subjects  and  branches  were  dropped  or  combined  with 
others. 

3  The  work  in  English  and  history  was  reorganized  and  more 
carefully  graded,  six  of  the  seventeen  branches  in  English  being 
eliminated. 

4  New  laboratory  courses  were  planned  in  physics,  chemistry, 
botany  and  zoology,  the  courses  and  notebooks  to  be  certified  by  the 
inspectors. 

5  A  syllabus  was  prepared  for  state  business  certificates  including 
nine  new  subjects,  and  one  in  manual  training  with  home  science  with 
four  new  subjects.^® 

A  discussion  of  the  more  pertinent  of  these  matters  follows, 
namely,  the  reorganization  in  English,  history  and  science. 

We  have  seen  that  the  revision  of  1895  had  provided  for  the 
permissive  adoption  of  a  systematic  three-year  Englisli  course,  based 
on  a  very  general  feeling  that  the  courses  in  English  were  of  pecu- 
liar importance  and  were  also  peculiarly  unrelated  in  most  courses  of 
study.  We  also  saw  that  the  agitation  for  reform  grew  out  of  the 
long-standing  problem  of  college  entrance  requirements.  As  early 
as  1893,  at  its  first  meeting  the  Association  of  College  and  Prepara- 
tory Schools  of  the  Middle  States  and  Maryland  had  appointed  a 
committee  which  had  for  its  purpose  the  consideration  of  uniform 
entrance  requirements  in  English,  and  which  began  in  the  following 
year  a  series  of  conferences  on  this  matter.-^  These  conferences 
resulted  in  the  adoption  of  lists  of  literary  classics  foi  reading  and 
for  study,  which  might  be  the  basis  of  entrance  examinations.  The 
adoptions  were  in  terms  of  each  academic  year  but  were  made  for 
some  years  ahead.  After  the  first  meeting  other  associations  of 
New  England  and  the  North  Central  States  sent  delegates.  At  the 
spring  meeting  in  1897  in  a  definite  effort  to  get  representative  views 
concerning  the  teaching  of  English  and  especially  concerning  col- 
lege entrance  requirements,  three  New  York  State  inspectors  met 
with  the  association.  At  the  spring  meeting  in  1899  the  University 
was  represented  by  one  of  its  inspectors  as  delegate. 

When  therefore  the  1900  syllabus  was  published,  these  reading 


"Regents  Rep't,  1901,  p.  11  and  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  1:8-12. 
"  Regents  Rep't,  1899,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :840-55. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  163 

and  study  lists  were  set  with  but  one  slight  change  in  each,  and  were 
indicated  for  i;se  in  1900-1,  1901-2  and  1902-3  for  the  subject  of 
English  reading.-^  This  subject  had  been  announced  in  1895  ^s  an 
appropriate  fourth  year  study  following  the  graded  three-year 
course.  In  1900,  however,  the  option  was  still  left  of  this  four- 
year  course  or  a  more  or  less  parallel  series  of  studies  as  follows : 
rhetoric,  composition,  English  and  American  selections,  advanced 
English,  ad\anced  English  composition  and  the  history  of  litera- 
ture.'- As  indicative  of  the  purpose  of  this  revision  of  the  subject 
of  English  reading,  and  of  the  common  practice  in  New  York  high 
schools  to  allow  pupils  to  work  up  these  classics  outside  of  class,  the 
following  statement  was  made  : 

The  texts  for  study  call  for  close  instruction  in  the  study  of  literature. 
The  text  should  be  explored  both  in  its  large  factors  and  for  the  full  thought 
of  each  sentence.  All  enrichment  by  figure  and  allusion  should  be  considered. 
All  peculiarities  in  form  and  expression,  whether  characteristic  of  the  indi- 
vidual or  of  the  age,  should  be  noted. 

In  history  less  had  been  accomplished.  The  special  committee  on 
this  subj'xrt,  under  one  of  the  inspection  staff  as  chairman,  took  as 
its  starting  point  the  graded  course  of  the  Committee  of  Seven  of 
the  American  Historical  Association  which  presupposed  elementary 
United  States  history  in  the  grades.^^  The  committee  suggested 
and  secured,  against  the  recommendations  of  the  general  committee 
on  revision,  the  postponement  until  1905  of  the  placement  of  this 
subject  in  the  preacademic  list.  The  subject  of  history  as  a  whole 
was  found  by  the  committee  as  far  as  the  offering  in  New  York 
schools  to  have  less  recitation  time  than  any  of  the  languages,  science 
or  mathematics.  The  tendency  was  believed  to  be  more  or  less  preva- 
lent to  read  up  and  cram  the  courses  for  examinations.  The  net 
results  of  the  work  of  the  committee  and  the  consequent  revised 
syllabus  were  the  development  of  a  more  balanced  course  somewhat 
comparable  with  those  that  had  been  developed  in  English,  mathe- 
matics and  Latin ;  the  division  of  United  States  history  into  ele- 
mentary and  advanced  courses;  and  the  omission  of  the  courses  in 
general,  French,  and  New  York  history. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  and  progressive  changes  were  made 
in  the  scientific  subjects.  In  1896  the  first  meeting  was  held  of  the 
New  York  State  Science  Teachers  Association,  as  an  offshoot  of 


"Regents    Rep't,    1901,    Rep't   H.    S.    Dep't,   p.   4S-49;    for    discussion,    see 
Rep^ents  Rep't    1900,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :338-68,  449-50. 
**  Regents  Rep't,  1901,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  49-54. 
"  Regents  Rep't,  1900.  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :369-94.  441-49,  45^-62. 


164  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

ihe  department  of  natural  science  instruction  of  the  National  Edu- 
cation Association  held  in  Buffalo  in  that  year.-*  The  first  two 
sessions  considered  the  general  values  and  aims  of  science  and  such 
problems  as  the  laboratory,  organization  of  courses  and  the  require- 
ments for  college  entrance.  At  the  third  meeting  in  1898  there  was 
appointed  a  committee  of  nine  which  was  broken  up  into  subcom- 
mittees. Reports  of  these  subcommittees,  which  practically 
amounted  to  syllabuses,  were  made  in  the  subjects  of  biology, 
botany,  earth  science  and  physics.  The  discussion  centered  largely 
in  biology,  zoology  and  chemistry.-^  The  next  session,  that  of  1899, 
was  held  in  part  conjointly  with  that  of  the  Associated  Academic 
Principals,  and  the  science  committee  of  the  latter  reviewed  the  sug- 
gestions for  laboratory  work  of  the  committee  of  nine  as  well  as 
similar  suggestions  from  other  bodies.  A  questionnaire  sent  out  to 
the  principals  supplemented  these  data  with  opinions  as  to  the  ap- 
propriate sciences  for  the  high  school  course,  their  order  of  sequence 
and  the  proper  time  allotment.-*^ 

The  syllabus  therefore  was  the  joint  result  of  these  various  sources 
of  information.  Outlines  for  physics  and  physical  geography  were 
based  definitely  upon  the  work  of  the  committee  of  the  State  Science 
Teachers  Association,  foiTning  the  most  definite  illustration  of  a 
growing  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  Regents  to  go  outside  of  their 
body  and  the  two  long-standing  bodies  of  teachers  of  the  higher 
schools  for  guidance  in  professional  matters.  Of  the  greatest 
significance  was  the  provision  for  the  approval  of  laboratory  courses 
by  the  inspectors  and  for  the  counting  of  notebook  work  to  the  ex- 
tent of  20  credits  toward  the  examination  upon  the  certification  of 
the  inspectors.  In  the  new  manual  training  syllabus  a  similar  prac- 
tice was  allowed,  shopwork  and  home  science  being  accredited  on 
the  certificate  of  the  principal  with  the  approval  of  a  University  in- 
spector in  lieu  of  an  examination.^^  This  marked  at  once  the 
avowal  of  the  Board  to  change  the  emphasis  to  laboratory  rather 
than  textbook  work  in  the  sciences  and  to  extend  the  function  of 
inspection  to  include  part  of  that  formerly  assigned  to  the  examina- 
tions. 

The  requirement  by  the  Regents  of  laboratory  work  as  a  condition 
to  credit  in  the  natural  sciences  did  not  meet  with  complete  favor  on 


"  Regents  Rcp't,  1899,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :62i-3i. 

"  Repents  Rcp't,   1899,  p.  447-621. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1900,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dcp't,  p.  418-39,  456-59,  especially  p.  432 

'•  Regents  Rep't.  1901,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  -.229-84. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  165 

the  part  of  many  principals,  especially  those  of  the  smaller  schools, 
used  to  obtairiing  credits  under  the  former  plan,  and  now,  as  they 
thought,  lacking  the  time,  place  and  money  to  meet  the  new  de- 
mands. The  Associated  Academic  Principals  in  1801  took  the 
matter  under  discussion  with  particular  reference  to  physics  and 
chemistr}-.'-*  The  statement  frequently  made  that  the  laboratory  re- 
quirements would  drive  physics  out  of  the  state  schools  was  answered 
by  Inspector  Cobb  with  the  statement  that  no  apparent  elimination 
had  come  about.  The  arguments  presented  were  largely  favorable 
to  the  change,  indicating  a  wholesome  prospect  that  the  movement 
was  not  made  in  advance  of  general  opinion  in  the  matter.  Exhibits 
of  apparatus  in  physics  and  chemistry  were  made  and  much  was 
accomplished  in  the  way  of  bringing  about  cooperation  on  the  part 
of  the  secondary  schools,  the  colleges  and  the  Regents  working 
through  their  inspectors.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  sec- 
ondary education  in  New  York  the  sciences  were  placed  upon  some- 
thing of  an  equivalent  as  regards  the  rigidity  of  courses  and  definite- 
ness  of  state  requirements.  Moreover  the  secondary  schools  could 
be  said  to  be  in  advance  of  the  entrance  requirements  in  science  in 
most  of  the  colleges  of  the  State. 

It  was  expected  that  the  new  requirements  and  the  rapidly  de- 
creasing value  of  the  appropriations,  due  to  the  increase  of  num- 
bers of  pupils  and  particularly  accelei-ated  by  the  additions  of  the 
high  schools  of  New  York  City,  would  cause  a  falling  off  of  the 
numbers  taking  the  examinations.  In  addition  (see  table  20)  the 
percentage  of  pupils  who  were  allowed  out  of  the  number  claimed 
by  the  principals  had  fallen  below  that  of  any  year  since  1888,  duo 
to  increased  rigor  in  the  standards  of  the  readers  in  the  examinations 
department.  The  gain  was,  however,  steady  and  even  relatively  ex- 
ceptional in  the  years  1901  and  1902.  Table  20  also  indicates  the 
very  interesting  growth  in  the  numbers  of  schools  taking  the  ex- 
aminations, and  percentage  of  papers  both  claimed  and  allowed  of 
pupils  writing  the  examinations. 


Repents  Rep't,   1902,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :364-83,  439-54. 


1 66 


THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 


Table  20 
Statistics  of  academic  examinations,  1889  to  1905  ^ 


YEAR 

SCHOOLS 
TAKING 
EXAMS. 

PAPERS 
WRITTEN 

PAPERS 
CLAIMED 

PAPERS 
ALLOWED 

PER  CENT 

OF 

PAPERS 

CLAIMED 

PER  CENT 

OK 

PAPERS 

ALLOWED 

PER  CENT 

CLAIMED 

PAPERS 

ALLOWED 

1889 

1892 

1893 

1894 

189s 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

I9OI 

1902 

1903 

304 
357 
393 

417 
467 
517 

557 
608 
639 
672 
699 
726 
730 

193  197 
278  907 
302  471 
357  908 
388  945 
396  760 
421  588 
446  837 
481  482 

511  020 

538  833 

558  301 

539  241 

107  149 
176  SI6 

i8s  677 

238  319 
259  932 

256  599 
268  953 
303  361 
333  970 
374  392 
411  039 
438  047 
418  230 

99  079 

155  869 

l6s  676 
211  533 
231  231 
224  403 
239  671 
271  999 
296  994 
345  117 
353  939 
382  855 
358  015 

55 
63 
61 
67 
67 
64 
64 

68 
69 
73 
70 
78 
78 

51 
56 

55 

59 
59 
S6 
57 
61 
62 
68 
66 
69 
66 

92 

88 
89 
89 
89 
87 
89 
90 
89 
92 
86 
87 
86 

7  Recent  Developments  in  the  Examination  System 
Subsequent  to  1900  there  have  been  two  general  revisions  of  the 
examinations,  in  1905  and  1910.  In  the  latter  year  it  was  decided 
that  in  the  future,  revisions  would  be  made  by  sections  where  there 
was  definite  need.^''  As  a  result,  at  the  usual  time  for  revision  in 
1913-14,  the  subjects  of  drawing  and  music  were  made  a  matter  of 
careful  study  and  reorganization  by  special  committees  of  experts, 
and  special  syllabuses  and  requirements  were  worked  out.  The 
discussion  following  makes  no  attempt  to  treat  fully  the  development 
of  the  last  fifteen  years  but  rather  to  indicate  the  general  tendencies. 
Perhaps  the  most  important  change  during  this  period  was  an 
administrative  one,  the  creation  of  a  State  Examinations  Board. 
This  was  the  third  step  historically.  At  first  the  whole  burden  had 
fallen  upon  the  Secretary.  In  1889,  a  separate  examinations  de- 
partment was  established  because  of  the  volume  of  work  and  num- 
ber of  people  required  to  prepare  the  questions  and  read  the  papers. 
This  new  board  of  twenty  members  had  equal  representation  from 
the  State  Education  Department,  college  teachers,  secondary  school 
teachers  and  elementary  school  teachers. ^^  The  committee  worked 
through  a  large  number  of  subcommittees  in  the  preparation  of  the 
examination  questions  and  acted  to  some  extent  as  a  reviewing  com- 


"  Regents  Rep'ts,  1901.  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  iirig;  1902.  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't, 
i:ri.^;  1903.  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :r20-2i ;  1904,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't  i  :r40. 
Statistics  of  earlier  and  later  years  are  not  piven  because  the  changes  in 
methods  make  them  incomparable  with  these  figures. 

'"Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1915,  p.  254. 

"  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1907,  p.  236. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  167 

niittee.  In  1907  a  committee  of  seven,  including  tlie  tliree  Assistant 
Commissioi>ers  of  Education,  was  appointed  to  revise  the  examina- 
tion questions.^-  The  first  examination  under  the  board  was  held 
in  June  1907.  It  seems  safe  to  conclude  from  the  results  of  the 
next  decade  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  this  step  and  that  the  work  of 
the  board  has  very  definitely  increased  the  effectiveness  of  the  sys- 
tem and  its  adjustment  through  the  work  of  the  special  committees 
to  the  secondary  school  needs.  At  times  perhaps  the  requirements 
are  set  too  high  but  this  readily  happens  under  any  system. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  one  of  the  problems  that  gave  rise  to 
the  establishment  of  the  examinations  was  that  of  the  adjustment  of 
the  secondary  schools  and  colleges  and  that  it  was  hoped  that  the 
college  entrance  diploma  would  be  generally  accepted  within  the 
State.  Had  not  the  college  course  at  about  this  time  undergone 
great  differentiation,  this  hope  might  have  been  realized.  As  it  was, 
some  colleges  accepted  the  diploma  and  more  accepted  pass  cards  in 
certain  subjects. 

At  its  thirteenth  annual  conference  in  1899,  the  Association  of 
Colleges  of  the  Middle  States  and  Maryland  took  under  considera- 
tion the  question  of  the  lack  of  uniformity  among  the  requirements 
of  the  various  coUeges,^^  and  as  a  result  the  College  Entrance  Ex- 
amination Board  was  instituted  as  an  offshoot  of  the  association. 
Within  a  year  twelve  colleges,  six  of  them  located  in  New  York, 
accepted  the  plan  of  joint  college  entrance  examinations.  It  was 
believed  that  the  secondary  schools  would  profit  in  two  respects :  a 
standard  of  graduation  would  be  set  and  cooperation  with  the  col- 
leges would  be  possible  to  the  extent  that  uniform  preparation  could 
be  made.  This  latter  would  save  much  time  and  energy  as  against 
the  former  need  of  duplication  of  subjects  in  the  secondary  schools.^* 

The  interest  of  the  Board  of  Regents  and  its  staff  was  definitely 
given  to  these  examinations.  It  was  even  suggested  that  the 
Regents  examinations  could  be  utilized  for  the  purpose. ^^  It  was 
later  hoped  that  some  plan  of  cooperation  might  be  worked  out  be- 
tween the  State  Education  Department  and  the  College  Entrance  Ex- 
amination Board.^®  In  this  way  economy  of  time,  labor  and  expense 
could  be  had.     Nothing  came  of  this  scheme  although  the   State 


''  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1908,  p.  256. 

''  Regents  Rep't,  1901,  p.  43  flf. 

"  Reeents  Rep'ts,  1902,  p.  51-52;  1904;  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  338. 

"^'Regents  Rep'ts,  1901,  p.  87:   1903,  p.   116-21. 

'^  Ed   Dep't  Rep't,  1906,  p.  471-74. 


l68  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    IIIGIT    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

Examinations  Board  voted  in  1907  to  accept  the  ratings  of  the  Col- 
lege Entrance  Board  in  lieu  of  all  or  part  of  the  state  credentials.^' 

Simultaneously  the  Board  of  Regents  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
State  Examinations  Board  adopted  a  new  college  entrance  diploma 
in  lieu  of  the  old  classical  diploma  and  divided  it  into  two  depart- 
ments, science  and  arts.^^  This  step  was  an  outgrowth  of  a  con- 
ference of  the  colleges  and  the  Department  of  Education  in  1906,^^^ 
and  resulted  in  a  large  majority  of  the  colleges  of  the  State  and  a 
numher  of  extrastate  colleges  accepting  the  Regents  admission  cre- 
denials  for  college  entrance.*'^  In  1914  the  State  Examinations 
Board  recommended  three  college  entrance  diplomas,  leading  to 
courses  in  arts,  science  and  engineering.'*^  The  Regents  accepted 
this  plan  and  prescribed  for  each  course  required  preferential  and 
elective  subjects  totalling  70  counts.  This  plan  is  far  more  com- 
prehensive and  adjustable  than  any  earlier  one  and  is  likely  to  make 
for  closer  cooperation  of  the  secondary  and  higher  schools. 

Turning  now  to  the  syllabus  or  state  secondary  course  of  study, 
certain  features  are  outstanding;  a  tendency  to  utilize  more  widely 
the  conclusions  of  various  voluntary  associations  and  the  effort  to 
encourage  longer  and  better  organized  courses. 

In  mathematics,  the  reports  of  committees  of  the  American 
Mathematical  Society  and  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engi- 
neering and  committee  reports  of  the  National  Education  Associa- 
tion were  utilized.  In  the  various  natural  sciences,  the  State  Science 
Teachers  and  certain  national  organizations  had  prepared  sylla- 
buses which  were  accepted  with  only  slight  modilications.  The 
history  syllabus  was  built  rather  definitely  upon  the  work  of  the 
American  Historical  Association.'*-  In  the  case  of  other  subjects, 
and  indeed  in  all,  some  of  the  best  experts  in  the  State  were  called  in 
to  assist. 

Eaflier  syllabuses  had  been  accompanied  by  suggestive  three- 
year  and  four-year  courses  of  study.  However,  the  great  develop- 
ment of  the  number  of  courses  and  the  application  of  the  count 
system  in  1890,  had  tended  to  militate  against  systematic  organized 
courses  and  to  stimulate  pupils  taking  a  large  number  of  unrelated 


^' Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1908,  p.  256.  Accepted  in  1914;  sec  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't, 
191 5,  p.  288. 

"Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1908,  p.  237-39. 

'•  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1907,  p.  295-96. 

*"  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1909,  p.  255.     Cf.  1910.   i  1257. 

"Ed.  Dep't  Rep'ts,  1914,  p.  169-70;  1915,  p.  2S5-88. 

"Ed.  Dep't  Rep'ts,  1907,  p.  26-247;  1910,  3:39,  50,  63,  73,  I43,  148,  152, 
169,  171,  442. 


STATE    EXA.MIXATIOXS    AND    HIGH    SCflOOL    COURSE  169 

short  courses.  Each  of  the  late  syllabuses  aimed  in  one  way  or 
another  to  correct  the  evil.  Nevertheless  it  was  stated  in  the  annual 
report  of  1907  that  comparatively  little  had  been  accomplished.*'' 
Of  all  pupils  taking  the  examinations  in  1903-4,  the  work  of  two- 
thirds  was  founded  on  the  short  courses  of  the  syllabus.  A  more 
definite  effort  was  therefore  made  in  the  general  revision  of  1905  to 
encourage  longer  courses  and  the  more  important  changes  made 
were  as  follow's :  half-year  courses  except  three  in  biology  were 
abolished,  the  six  short  English  courses  were  dropped,  the  English 
course  was  extended  to  four  years  and  an  additional  year  was  added 
to  each  of  three  modern  foreign 'languages. 

The  syllabus  has  continued  to  be  viewed  more  broadly  and,  it  is 
to  be  hoped,  followed  more  wisely.**  The  interpretation  in  connec- 
tion with  the  revision  of  1910  was  to  the  effect  that  its  purpose  was 
that  of  a  "  concise  statement  of  a  scheme  of  study  prepared  to  indi- 
cate the  general  scope  and  character  of  the  instruction  to  be  given  by 
the  teachers  and  the  work  to  be  done  by  the  students."*'  The  great 
attention  given  to  the  reorganization  of  the  secondary  school  curri- 
culum in  the  last  few  years  can  not  as  yet  be  said  to  have  gone  far 
enough  to  offer  material  for  use  by  the  Education  Department,  but 
if  one  may  judge  from  past  history,  it  will  be  used  when  it  is  avail- 
able. 

Of  peculiar  interest  are  the  changes  made  in  the  preacademic 
field.**'  The  syllabus  has  been  revised  to  provide  for  a  six-year 
elementary  or  preacademic  course  of  study  for  the  elementary  school 
and  a  supplementary  course  for  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades.  It 
is  not  unlikely  that  this  may  result  in  a  plan  calculated  to  encourage 
the  junior  high  school  movement.*'  The  subjects  have  been  so 
extended  as  to  include  elementary  English,  geography  and  ele- 
mentary United  States  history  with  civics.  Grade  examinations 
which  had  been  established  under  the  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction as  well  as  the  preacademic  or  preliminary  examinations 
are  now  so  definitely  questioned  that  it  seems  probable  that  they 
will  be  discontinued  in  the  near  future.*^ 

The  tendency  to  leave  the  reading  of  papers  to  the  principals  and 
teachers  of  the  school  has  entered  the  secondary  field.     Since  1918 


"^Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1907,  p.  259-61. 

"Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1908,  p.  450,  451. 

**  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1910,  p.  426. 

"Ed.  Dep't  Rep'ts,  1906.  p.  11;  1910,  1:6-7. 

*'  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1914,  p.  204-5. 

^Ed.  Dep't  Rep'ts,  1913,  p.  308;  1914,  p.  90-96. 


170  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

this  principle  has  cooperated  with  another,  that  of  examining  pupils 
only  in  the  last  one  or  two  years  of  a  three-year  or  four-year  course 
in  a  subject,  which  together  have  lightened  the  won-:  of  the  State 
Department  and  tended  to  throw  the  emphasis  less  upon  examina- 
tions. It  has  come  to  be  felt  that  a  Regents  diploma  is  now  given 
on  the  basis  not  only  of  examinations  but  also  of  inspection  and 
reports. 

It  is  not  yet  possible  to  predict  whether  in  the  near  future  the 
academic  examinations  will  play  a  larger  or  smaller  part  in  the 
administration  of  secondary  education.  The  more  recent  annual 
reports  indicate  a  broad  attitude  regarding  them  and  a  clear  recog- 
nition of  the  inadequacies  and  dangers  of  the  system.  In  1913  with 
reference  especially  to  preacademic  examinations,  the  statement  was 
made: 

Our  almost  insatiable  desire  for  examinations  in  the  State  makes  us  over- 
look at  times  the  very  right  of  the  victim  of  them.  The  inertia  of  a  state 
system  once  inaugurated  is  colossal,  and  it  is  infinitely  harder  to  discontinue 
an  outworn  policy  than  it  is  to  begin  a  wholly  new  movement."' 

The  more  common  view  is  expressed  in  the  annual  report  for 
1914: 

It  yearly  becomes  more  and  more  evident  that  our  system  of  i^cademic 
examinations,  thoroughly  established  as  it  is  in  our  educational  scheme,  will 
serve  increasingly  useful  ends  only  in  so  far  as  it  emphasizes  the  undesira- 
bility  of  absolute  uniformity  and  of  arbitrary  procedure  and  recognizes  by 
a  more  elastic  administration  the  varying  local  needs  of  differently  organized 
schools.  Effort  is  constantly  being  made  to  guard  against  the  dangers  of  liie 
purely  mechanical  processes  inherent  in  any  public  examination  system  and 
to  characterize  the  operation  of  our  own  system  by  its  elasticity  and  adapta- 
bility rather  than  by  its  mere  mechanical  uniformity  and  formality.'^ 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  intimate  con- 
nection at  the  outset  of  the  exaininations  with  the  distribtition  of 
academic  funds  which  was  broken  between  1900  and  1906  was  re- 
established in  that  year  by  a  vote  of  the  Regents  so  that  schools 
sharing  in  the  $100  quota  and  in  apportionments  for  equi})ment  and 
nonresident  tuition  must  take  the  state  academic  examinations.'^^ 

In  concluding  this  review  of  recent  tendencies,  it  may  be  well  to 
show  something  of  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  system.  Examin- 
ations  now  include   the   following:   grade,   preliminary,   academic, 


'  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1913,  p.  309. 
'Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1914,  p.  154. 
'  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1907,  p.  235.     Cf.  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1903,  p.  231  ff. 


STATE    EXAMINATIONS    AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    COURSE  17I 

academic  for  professional  students,  teachers  and  professional 
examinations-.  The  number  of  questions  annually  prepared  runs  up 
to  approximately  1000.  Thirty  readers  alone  are  required  in  Eng- 
lish branches  and  large  numbers  of  part-time  readers  are  used  during 
the  summer  months.  In  1913-14,  over  800,000  papers  were  written. 
Moreover  in  academic  examinations  alone,  nearly  1000  schools  are 
concerned. 

Summary  and  Conclusions 

1  Until  1864,  the  Regents  supervision  of  the  courses  of  study  in 
the  secondary  schools  was  principally  limited  to  the  annual  reports 
of  the  schools.  The  requirement  for  entrance  upon  academic 
studies  as  legally  established  had  been  modified  from  time  to  time 
and  instructions  sent  out  explaining  the  changes.  It  was  evident, 
however,  that  principals  were  lax  or  dishonest  in  the  counting  of 
pupils  and  rejections  had  to  be  made  in  increasing  number. 

2  With  a  view  to  establishing  a  more  adequate  and  impersonal 
basis  for  the  distribution  of  the  academic  fund,  examination  ques- 
tions were  issued  in  four  elementary  subjects  in  1865.  Not  only 
was  the  line  thereby  clearly  drawn  between  elementary  and  academic 
pupils  and  aid  more  justly  distributed  but  a  new  and  powerful 
machinery  of  state  administration  of  secondary  schools  was  set  in 
motion. 

3  In  1878-79  the  first  examinations  were  given  in  secondary  sub- 
jects and  within  the  next  five  years  a  state  secondary  course  of 
study  was  comparatively  well  organized  and  interpreted  in  a  syllabus 
or  explanatory  statement  regarding  the  use  of  the  examinations. 

4  The  syllabus  has  been  revised  from  time  to  time,  quinquennially 
from  1890  to  1910,  and  elaborated  into  a  very  comprehensive  out- 
line of  materials  and  methods  in  secondary  and  elementary  subjects. 
More  recently  these  revisions  have  been  made  only  in  such  subjects 
as  are  in  need  of  revision.  The  utilization  in  recent  years  of  the 
best  thought  of  state  and  national  educational  associations  has  greatly 
increased  the  comprehensiveness  and  value  of  the  syllabuses. 

5  The  problem  of  better  adjustment  of  the  secondary  school  and 
the  college  has  from  1865  to  the  present  been  most  carefully  con- 
sidered. Through  the  larger  part  of  the  period  two  diplomas  were 
ofifered,  the  academic  or  general  and  the  college  entrance  or  classical. 
The  development  of  college  curriculums  along  scientific  lines  caused 
the  Regents  solution  to  become  outworn,  and  the  work  of  such 
bodies  as  the  College  Entrance  Examination  Board,  applicable  to 
schools  and  colleges  without  as  well  as  within  the  State,  has  made 


172  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    II 1011    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

the  problem  less  vital.  I\Ioi"e  recently,  however,  three  college  en- 
trance diplomas  have  been  devised,  in  arts,  science  and  engineering, 
and  most  New  York  colleges  and  some  others  accept  these. 

6  The  examinations  served  as  a  means  for  the  partial  or  total 
distribution  of  academic  funds  until  1900.  The  criticism  of  this 
method  of  payment  for  results  and  the  general  criticism  of  the  ex- 
aminations in  this  period  caused  their  elimination  from  the  distri- 
bution. In  1906,  however,  the  requirement  was  made  that  schools 
receiving  the  various  types  of  aid  must  hold  the  examinations. 

7  The  establishment  of  a  system  of  counts,  or  units  of  credit,  for 
the  various  branches  of  study  in  1890  tended  at  once  to  standardize 
the  quantity  and  quality  of  work  in  the  studies,  but  also  to  place  a 
premium  upon  short  and  unrelated  courses.  By  the  gradual  encour- 
agement of  courses  of  study,  in  English  first  and  later  in  other 
branches,  which  involved  three  or  four  years  of  work,  and  later  by 
the  removal  from  the  examinations  list  of  most  of  the  short  courses, 
this  evil  has  largely  been  eliminated. 

8  Opinion  within  the  State  has  always  been  more  or  less  divided 
as  to  the  value  of  the  examinations  in  themselves.  The  frequent 
revisions  have  corrected  many  defects  and  prevented  a  certain 
amount  of  undue  standardization.  More  recently  the  practice  of  ac- 
ceptance by  the  State  Department  of  the  ratings  of  the  high  schools 
in  the  more  elementary  courses  promises  a  decrease  in  emphasis 
upon  the  specific  preparation  for  examinations  in  the  schools.  In 
addition  there  are  abundant  indications  that  the  work  of  the  state 
supervisors  is  cooperating  to  make  of  the  examinations  a  supple- 
mentary method  rather  than  the  only  method  of  determining  the 
standing  of  schools  in  the  matter  of  adequacy  of  courses  of  study 
and  methods  of  instruction. 


REPORTTXG    AND    INSPECTION  1/3 

Chapter  6 

Reporting  and   Inspection 

The  evident  intention  of  the  legislation  which  gave  rise  to  the 
University  and  the  system  of  academies,  namely  the  act  of  1787, 
was  to  provide  for  regular  inspection  of  the  schools,  as  a  basis  for 
the  annual  report  to  the  Legislature.  The  first  report  in  1788  was 
largely  the  record  of  visits  to  the  two  academies  then  in  existence 
and  gave  information  as  to  finance,  number  of  pupils,  course  of 
study  and  student  morale.^  As  no  funds  were  provided  for  the 
purpose,  and  schools  were  rapidly  established  in  parts  of  the  State 
difficult  of  access,  the  Regents  came  to  depend  almost  wholly  upon 
the  reports  of  the  schools  both  for  data  for  distributing  state  funds 
and  for  compiling  the  annual  reports.  During  the  first  one  hun- 
dred years  of  the  history  of  the  University,  "  visitation  "  was  there- 
fore made  only  occasionally  and  was  not  an  effective  instrument  of 
control.  During  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  systema- 
tic inspection  was  begun  and  has  so  rapidly  developed  as  to  become 
one  of,  if  not  the  greatest,  means  to  efficacious  distribution  of 
funds  and  adequate  direction  of  the  work  of  instruction  in  the 
several  schools. 

I  Reporting  and  Inspection,  jypo-i8po 
The  University  Act  of  1787  referred  in  three  different  sections  to 
the  Regents  relation  to  the  academies  and  colleges  as  a  board  of 
visitation :  ( i )  visitations  were  to  be  made  by  the  officers  or  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Regents  as  "  often  as  they  see  proper,"  (2)  inspection 
was  to  include  an  examination  of  the  curricukim  and  administra- 
tion of  the  schools,  and  (3)  admission  to  the  University  or  incor- 
poration was  designated  as  making  an  institution  "  subject  to  the 
visitation  of  the  Regents."-  Visits  were  made  from  time  to  time, 
probably  a  few  every  year,  but  with  the  rapid  increase  of  academies 
in  the  early  part  of  the  next  century  and  their  extension  over  a 
territory  that  was  not  traversed  by  good  lines  of  communication,  the 
substitute  for  personal  inspection  was  found  in  annual  reports  to  the 
Regents.^  Printed  blanks  for  these  were  first  made  out  in  1804  and 
the  returns  were  made  the  basis  of  more  detailed  reports  from  year 


'Regents  Rep't,  1883,  p.  444. 
^  Laws  of  1787.  chap.  82,  sec.  3,  12  and  16. 

'Regents  Rep't.  1856,  p.  18.     Cf.  Ordinance  of  1794,  in  Hough  p.  409-10. 
Also  Assembly  Documents,  1859,  no.  45. 


1/4  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

to  year/  The  Regents  Report  of  1825  indicates,  however,  that  in- 
spection was  not  wholly  discontinued  for  it  states  that  "  most  of  the 
academies  of  this  State  have  been  visited  by  individual  members  of 
the  Board  "  while  full  reports  were  also  received.^  In  the  revision 
of  their  ordinances  in  1828  after  the  Legislature  had  extended  the 
amount  of  annual  aid,  had  caused  the  higher  English  branches  to  be 
included  in  the  distribution  and  had  prescribed  the  general  nature  of 
the  reports,^  the  Regents  prescribed  a  more  detailed  form  of  report. 
Because  of  the  constant  tendency  to  omissions  and  errors  and  the 
failure  of  the  principals  either  to  make  the  required  affidavits  or  to 
secure  the  sanction  of  the  trustees,  subsequent  revisions  were  made 
in  1830,  1845  and  1853.* 

The  status  of  the  reporting  requirement  at  the  time  of  the  entrance 
of  the  first  high  schools  into  the  University  is  best  seen  in  the 
ordinance  of  the  year  1853  in  which  appear  twenty-five  items,  includ- 
ing among  others,  property  of  various  kinds,  departments  of  instruc- 
tion, subjects  studied  and  texts  used,  tuition  charges,  revenues  and 
expenditures.  High  schools  were  either  specifically  or  generally 
placed  under  the  rules  of  the  Regents  as  regards  reports,  as  in  all 
other  matters,  although  this  requirement  held  strictly  only  in  edu- 
cational and  not  in  financial  matters.*  While  the  Regents  Manuals 
of  1864  and  1870  show  a  great  development  in  the  requirements  in 
the  number  of  details  required,  little  change  was  or  could  well  be 
brought  about  in  the  general  content,  for  the  early  requirements 
were  very  comprehensive.  It  was  through  these  individual  reports 
that  the  Regents  were  largely  enabled  to  prepare  the  elaborate  re- 
ports which,  though  required  by  the  Legislature,  went  far  beyond 
the  requirement  and  by  1850  had  become  substantial  volumes,  only 
to  continue  increasing  in  size  and  detail  of  information  so  that  before 
the  close  of  the  century  they  were  often  published  in  three  volumes. 
Their  distribution  to  the  reporting  academies  must  have  had  a  very 
satisfactory  influence  by  affording  opportunity  for  comparative 
study.® 

Meanwhile  the  Board  did  not  wholly  neglect  the  duty  of  inspec- 
tion, although  funds  for  that  purpose  were  largely  lacking.  In  the 
^linutes  for  1830  we  find  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  an  ordinance 
be  passed  providing  the  appointment  of  "  competent  persons  to  visit 


*  Hough,  op.  cit.,  p.  70. 

'  Senate  Tour.,  1825,  p.  380. 

'Laws  of  1827,  chap.  228.     Cf.  Revised  Statutes,  1829,  pt  i,  chap.  IS,  art.  I. 
title  I,  sec.  26-29. 

'  Regents  Instructions,  1834:   1845,  p.  33-43;  1849.  p.  44-59;   1853.  P-  66-82. 
'  Regents  Rep't,  1881,  p.  xiii. 

•  ^^anual  of  the  Regents,   1864.  p.   167-68. 


REPORTING    AND    INSPECTION  175 

the  academies  and  report  on  their  visits."^"  Again  in  1838  at  the 
time  of  the  first  significant  agitation  for  uniting  the  two  state  depart- 
ments, the  University  and  the  Department  of  Common  Schools," 
Governor  Seward  defined  the  duties  of  the  Regents  as  visitors  of 
ihe  academies  "  by  virtue  of  their  office."  As  a  remedy  for  the 
neglect  of  supervision  in  Doth  secondary  and  higher  schools  he  sug- 
gested the  appointment  of  boards  of  visitors  to  serve  voluntarily  and 
although  action  was  taken  by  the  Legislature,  the  duties  of  these 
boards  was  confined  almost  wholly  to  the  lower  schools.^^  The 
Regents  in  1840  and  again  in  1843  appointed  committees  to  consider 
the  feasibility  of  personal  visits  with  a  view  to  securing  compliance 
with  the  University  ordinances. ^^  The  minutes  of  the  Board  reveal 
considerable  evidence  of  occasional  visits,  apparently  usually  made 
in  the  case  of  irregularities  of  one  kind  or  another  in  academy  ad- 
ministration or  reporting.'*  As  an  indication  of  the  attitude  of  the 
Board,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  when  in  1847  Salem  Town 
offered  to  act  as  a  visitor  of  academies  in  towns  where  he  was 
addressing  and  organizing  teachers  institutes,  it  was  ruled  that  there 
was  doubt  as  to  whether  visitors  could  be  appointed  outside  of  the 
Board.'' 

In  the  month  following  the  passage  of  the  union  free  school  act 
of  1853,  the  Rev.  Dr  Luckey,  a  member  of  the  Board,  who  appears 
to  have  done  inspection  service  before,  was  appointed  to  visit  "  such 
academies  in  the  northern  and  western  parts  of  the  State,  as  may  be 
agreed  upon  between  him  and  the  secretary  of  the  Board."'''  For 
remuneration  for  visitation  in  the  years  of  1853  and  1854,  Regent 
Luckey  was  reimbursed  at  the  rate  of  $50  and  $75  a  month  respec- 
tively, his  traveling  expenses  v^^ere  paid  and  the  Regents  inspections 
were  the  most  extensive  that  had  been  made  up  to  that  time."  A 
new  interest  was  taken  by  the  Board  from  this  time  on.  One  im- 
portant factor  in  this  was  undoubtedly  the  fact  that  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  common  school  department  in  1854  under  the  headship 
of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  gave  that  official  the  nev 
power  of  visitation  of  the  academies  and  other  higher  schools.^' 
While  he  was  even  less  able  than  the  Regents  to  carry  out  this  pro- 


'"  Regents  Minutes    (MSS),  3:340  ff. 

"  Assembly  Documents,  1838.  no.  236,  p.  17. 

"Assembly  Jour.,  1839,  p;  30-31. 

''Regents  Minutes  (MSS),  5:296  ff.,  390. 

"Regents  Minutes   (MSS),  4:390,  42^. 

"Regents  Minutes  (MSS),  5:187.  The  same  position  is  reiterated  in  a 
report  of  a  special  committee  of  the  Board  in  1856;  see  Regents  Minutes,  6; 
app.  2.  p.  21,  25. 

''  Regents  Minutes,  6  :S9. 

''Ibid.,  6:59.  no,  129.   147-48,  152-53. 

'"  Laws  of  1854,  chap.  97. 


1/6  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

vision,  successive  reports  discussed  the  additional  requirement  with 
recommendations  relative  thereto.  These  recommendations  looked 
largely  toward  the  creation  of  free  scholarships  with  the  state  aid 
which  was  being  given,  as  the  best  means  of  making  the  schools 
serve  the  State's  purpose  in  aiding  thcm/^  Such  a  scheme  presum- 
ably seemed  both  radical  and  undesirable  to  the  Regents  although 
they  left  no  permanent  record  as  to  their  official  view  of  the  matter. 
On  January  7,  1856,  a  draft  of  the  first  ordinance  concerning  visita- 
tion was  brought  in  by  Mr  Hawley  and  after  some  modification  was 
passed.-^ 

As  this  ordinance  is  unique  in  regard  to  this  function  of  the 
Regents,  it  has  seemed  best  to  summarize  its  most  important  pro- 
visions.    These  are  as  follows : 

1  Committees  of  the  Board,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Secretary  so 
far  as  he  was  able,  were  to  visit  all  secondary  and  higher  institutions 
at  least  once  inevery  two  years. 

2  This  visitation  was  to  extend  to  all  matters  over  which  the 
Regents  had  jurisdiction  and  the  visitor  was  to  compare  the  actual 
state  of  the  academy  with  its  report  of  the  previous  year. 

3  The  condition  of  nonreporting  institutions  was  to  be  made  a 
matter  of  special  concern  and  the  effort  made  to  find  out  whether 
they  were  extinct  or  not. 

4  Reports  were  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Regents  and  the  results 
to  be  made  the  basis  of  appropriate  action  and  of  reports  to  the 
Legislature. 

Under  this  ordinance  visitations  were  pressed  with  more  vigor. 
The  Secretary's  continually  increased  duties  prevented  any  large 
activity  on  his  part,-^  and  the  greater  amount  of  this  work  was 
performed  by  three  clerical  members  of  the  Board.  In  the  year 
1852-53  nearly  all  the  200  institutions  within  the  University  were 
visited  but  the  labor  was  found  to  be  too  great  to  be  repeated  every 
year  and  it  was  felt  that  the  system  of  reporting  made  it  more  or 
less  unnecessary. 

Before  another  decade  had  passed  the  Regents  preliminary  ex- 
aminations had  been  put  in  operation  to  be  followed  in  1878  by  the 
academic  examinations,  and  these  came  to  be  generally  considered 
by  the  Board  as  a  substitute  for  personal    inspection.^-     In    the 


*•  Sup't  Rep'ts.  1853-58. 

"Regents  Rep't,  1856.  p.  19-20.  Cf.  Regents  Minutes,  6:236-38  for  discus- 
sion and  first  draft  of  the  ordinance.  The  chief  modification  was  that  of 
changing  the  obligation  of  visitation  from  the  Secretary  to  committees  of  the 
Board. 

"Regents  Rep'ts,  1857,  p.  24;  1858,  p.  18;  Regents  Minutes,  6:232,  252-56; 
Assembly  Documents,  1859,  I  :i-3. 

"Regents  Rep'ts,  1886,  p.  xii;  1887,  p.  249. 


REPORTING    AND    INSPECTION  177 

iiterim  a  flood  of  petitions  was  sent  to  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1867,  some  favoring  and  some  opposing  the  aboHtion  of  the 
Regents.  Similar  petitions  were  presented  to  the  Legislature  in 
1870.  This  body  sought  the  opinion  of  the  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction  but  sent  to  the  Regents  the  following  resolution: 

Resolved,  That  the  Regents  of  the  University  be  instructed  to  report  to  the 
next  Legislature  what  in  their  judgment,  should  be  the  power  of  a  Board  of 
Visitation  of  the  Colleges  and  Academies  of  the  State,  and  whether  any  change 
in  the  organization  of  that  Board  is  desirable  to  render  it  more  effective  in 
the  supervision  of  those  institutions. 

The  report  made  to  the  Legislature  defined  the  powers  of  the 
Regents,  as  delegated  to  them  from  time  to  time  by  the  Legislature, 
and  held  that  they  were  as  large  as  required  by  any  visiting  Board.-^ 
As  far  as  colleges  and  secondary  schools  were  concerned  these 
powers  were  held  to  be  as  follows:  (i)  to  incorporate  schools  under 
general  laws,  (2)  to  require  reports,  (3)  to  make  special  investiga- 
tions when  deemed  necessary  and  (4)  to  make  personal  visitations 
through  its  officers  and  committees.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  that 
these  personal  visits  of  the  Board  were,  if  made  at  all,  not  reported 
but  two  or  three  years  longer  and  were  renewed  again  only  after  the 
vigorous  attack  of  the  Governor  in  his  message  of  1887  which  sought 
the  abolition  of  the  Regents. 

In  the  absence  of  detailed  statistics  which  are  available  in  the 
Regents  annual  reports  in  most  phases  of  academic  administration, 
conclusions  as  to  the  results  of  inspection  must  necessarily  be  in- 
complete. In  general  the  minutes  of  the  Board  indicate  that  all  too 
scanty  attention  was  given  to  the  reports  when  made.-*  They  were 
placed  on  file,  and  in  most  cases  were  lost  in  the  great  fire  of  191 1. 
One  exception  is  to  be  made  in  the  report  of  Doctor  Luckey  made 
January  13,  1854.-^  This  brief  statement  of  about  six  printed  pages 
is  divided  into  the  six  heads:  title  papers,  apparatus  and  libraries, 
academy  buildings,  records  of  trustees,  teachers  and  instruction  and 
government,  and  the  law  library  of  Rochester.  The  appended  table 
of  visits  to  105  higher  institutions  in  the  northern  and  western  parts 
of  the  State  includes  one  high  school,  the  Lockport  Union  School. 
Much  interesting  light  is  thrown  upon  the  general  status  of  the 
academies,  upon  their  comparative  laxness  in  some  matters  concern- 
ing which  the  Regents  ordinances  were  very  definite  and  upon  the 

"  Senate  Documents.  1S70.  no.  82.  A  resolution  was  passed  hy  the  Board, 
Tan.  13,  1870,  providing  for  the  visitation  of  the  high  schools.  Xo  report 
has  been  found  (Regents  Minutes,  7:8). 

^  Regents  Minutes,  6 :64,  84,  306-9. 

*°  Regents  Minutes,  v.  6,  app.  i. 


178  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

possibilities  of  such  inspection  as  was  made  in  this  year.  One 
specific  instance  is  cited  where  a  school  failing  in  proper  attention  to 
the  library  ordinance  was  brought  into  line  and  two  instances  are 
cited  where  definite  orders  were  made  as  to  necessary  modifications 
of  the  apparatus  equipment.  Later  brief  and  very  general  state- 
ments in  the  annual  reports  bear  out  the  impression  that  such  inspec- 
tion, while  lacking  in  the  rigor  of  modern  methods  and  oftentimes 
no  doubt  made  only  at  special  occasions  or  celebrations  of  the  school, 
must  have  reacted  very  favorably  upon  the  schools  which  were 
visited.  In  one  respect  a  gain  was  clearly  made.  Most  of  the  non- 
reporting  academies,  amounting  in  1856  and  1857  to  about  20  per 
cent,  were  either  declared  extinct  or  caused  to  be  revived  and  made 
to  report. 

The  Regents  annual  reports  from  1857  to  1874,  with  the  excep- 
tions of  two  years,  give  lists  of  the  academies  and  colleges  visited. 
During  this  period,  the  range  of  number  of  academies  and  high 
schools  visited  is  from  16  to  74,  with  the  median  number  at  45,  out 
of  a  possible  200,  indicating  that  the  intention  of  the  Regents 
ordinance  that  they  be  visited  once  every  other  year  was  very  poorly 
carried  out.  An  exhaustive  study  of  the  visits  paid  to  high  schools 
proper  shows  that  no  discrimination  was  shown  in  regard  to  them 
but  that  there  was  great  irregularity  in  the  number  of  visits  paid  to 
the  different  schools.  Of  high  schools  established  five  years  or 
more,  eight  seem  not  to  have  been  visited  at  all.  One  high  school 
was  visited  but  once  in  17  years,  another  once  in  13  years  and  one 
twice  in  15  years.  On  the  other  hand,  one  school  was  visited  nine 
times  in  14  years,  one  six  times  in  9  years,  and  one  13  times  in  18 
years,  counting  two  visits  in  each  of  4  years.  In  the  absence  of 
records,  it  seems  probable  from  a  study  of  the  individual  schools 
visited  most  often  that  accessibility  more  than  need  was  the  source 
of  favoritism  in  visitation. 

Presumablx'  the  deaths,  in  the  year  1869-70,  of  the  veteran 
Regents  Hawley  and  Luckey,  who  had  alike  favored  inspection  as  a 
means  of  the  more  efficient  administration  of  the  University's  func- 
tions, accounted  in  large  part  for  the  almost  complete  discontinu- 
ance of  the  practice.  When  inspection  was  resumed  in  1882,  it  was 
in  connection  with  the  classes  for  common  school  teachers.-"  The 
annual  report  in  that  \ear  noted  that  these  classes  offered  a  peculiar 
problem  to  the  princij)als  because  of  their  professional  nature  and 
urged  closer  inspection.-^     As  a  result  a  law  was  secured  which  in 


For  a  detailed  account  of  these  classes,  see  Miller,  G.  F.,  op.  cv* 
Regents  Rep't,   1882,  p.  xxiii,  xxiv. 


REPORTING    AND    INSPECTION  1/9 

addition  to  other  changes  in  the  administration  of  these  classes 
specifically'brought  them  under  the  inspection  of  the  school  commis- 
sioners with  whom  lay  the  final  power  of  certification  but  also  under 
that  of  the  Regents,  with  the  provision  that  the  academic  appropria- 
tions from  the  State  should  cover  this  special  inspection.-'*  As  a 
result  an  important  precedent  was  established  of  appointing  an  in- 
spector from  without  the  Board  and  although  the  classes  were  in 
1889  transferred  to  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction  the  rela- 
tionship of  the  University  to  the  various  institutions  under  its  charge 
had  been  strengthened  decidedly.  Abuses  were  corrected  which 
had  arisen  in  the  eagerness  of  schools  to  receive  the  bonus  offered 
for  the  instruction  of  prospective  teachers.-^  The  number  of  visits 
grew  from  52  in  1882  to  176,  in  147  different  schools,  in  1888.^"  By 
1 886 'instructions  were  issued  to  the  visitors  to  give  special  attention 
to  the  library  and  equipment  of  the  schools  and  the  later  reports 
indicate  that  in  spite  of  the  brevity  of  many  of  the  visits,  these 
features  of  academic  administration  were  very  definitely  improved 
and  at  the  same  time  the  way  was  paved  for  the  appointment  of  an 
apparatus  inspector  in  1892.^^  Furthermore,  in  the  years  1888  and 
1889  the  assistant  secretary  and  the  chief  examiner  also  made  a 
much  smaller  but  significant  number  of  inspections  so  that  charges 
against  the  Board  for  failure  in  this  respect  were  now  no  longer 
valid. ^-  There  was  evidence  that  the  schools  welcomed  the  visits  of 
state  officials,^^  so  that  the  transition  in  the  next  decade  to  systematic 
inspection  was  not  hard  to  make. 

2  Establishment  of  Systematic  Inspection 
During  this  whole  period,  reports  had  been  required  and  with  each 
revision  of  the  Regents  instructions  or  University  manual,  modifica- 
tions were  made  to  suit  the  growth  and  changing  conditions  of 
academic  instruction.  One  of  the  most  significant  revisions  was  in 
1 881,  when  a  more  complete  set  of  returns  was  required  from  the 
schools,  although  the  high  schools,  unlike  the  academies,  were  not 
required  by  law  to  report  their  financial  condition.^* 

In  1890  with  the  new  policy  of  extension  of  secondary  schools 
under  the  new  Secretary,  the  most  definite  eflfort  in  the  history  of 
the  Board  was  made  to  secure  complete  and  detailed  statistics.     In 


"  Laws  of  1882    chap.  378. 

"*  Regents  Rep't,  1883,  p.  155,  403. 

'"Regents  Rep'ts,  1883,  p.  115;  i88g.  p.  822. 

"Regents  Rep'ts,  1886,  p.  n-12;  1889,  p.  823. 

''  Senate  Documents,  1886.  no.  2,  p.  23. 

^'  Regents  Rep't,  1888,  p.  643. 

^  Regents  Rep't,  1882,  p.  xvi. 


I<So  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

fact  at  this  time  over  400  items  were  included  in  the  annual  Regents 
reports.  Great  difficulty  was  found  in  getting  accurate  statements 
from  the  schools  and  in  many  instances  totals  were  quite  misleading 
because  of  the  large  numbers  of  omissions.  Principals  were  charged 
with  lack  of  intelligence,  carelessness,  and  even  falseness  of  reports. ^^ 
Stress  was  constantly  laid  on  the  fact  that  the  report,  if  accurate 
and  trustworthy,  had  great  value  inasmuch  as  it  stood  alone  as  a 
complete  report  of  secondary  schools  in  any  state  and  Avas  a  valuable 
aid  in  meeting  arguments  of  opposition,  in  a  comparative  study  of 
schools  and  in  the  direction  of  state  and  local  educational  activities. ^"^ 
The  obligation  of  accurate  reporting  was  held  to  compare  with  that 
of  banks,  railways  and  other  concerns  receiving  aid  from  the  State. 

Upon  the  transfer  of  the  teachers  classes  to  the  Department  of 
Public  Instruction,  Secretary  Dewey  began  agitation  for  continued 
systematic  inspection,  such  as  had  recently  been  inaugurated  in 
Massachusetts.  The  Associated  Academic  Principals  ratified  his 
plans  by  a  resolution  in  the  conference  of  1889,"'  and  upon  a  vote  of 
the  Regents,  it  w^as  brought  before  the  Legislature.  No  action  was 
taken  but  the  Board  in  1891  made  an  appointment  for  immediate 
work.^* 

The  revision  of  the  general  University  Law  in  1892  incorporated 
this  mode  of  supervision  to  the  extent  that  inspection  by  a  University 
officer  was  made  a  prerequisite  to  sharing  in  the  academic  funds.'*'' 
The  reason  later  given  for  such  legislation  was  that  some  schools 
were  receiving  aid  without  conforming  to  the  University  ordinances 
and  the  legal  requirements.^"  During  the  first  year  the  inspectors, 
due  to  the  increase  of  work  in  the  examination  department,  were 
called  upon  to  spend  a  large  portion  of  their  time  at  other  work. 
Before  the  year  was  over,  two  had  resigned,  one  to  go  into  nonnal 
school  work  and  one  into  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction.*^ 
New  inspectors,  however,  w^ere  soon  appointed. 

Statements  of  the  good  accruing  and  the  principles  underlying 
the  early  inspection  may  be  found  in  reports  of  the  Regents  and  their 
inspectors  and  are  as  follows : 

I  To  ascertain  whether  the  institutions  were  maintaining  the  re- 
quired standards  of  equipment,  teaching  force  and  plant. 

"  Academy,  2:126;  5  :4g6. 

"Academy,  5:496-98;  Regents  Rep'ts.  1891,  1^37-40;   1893,  p.  r33-34. 

"  Academy,  5  :30-32. 

^Regents   Rcp't,    1S91,   p.   ri5-i6. 

^  T.aws  of  1892,  chap.  378,  sec.  26. 

*"  Regents  Rep'ts,  1894,  p.  r65 ;  1895,  I,  p.  r62. 

*"  Regents  R.ep't,  1892,  p.  r2i  ff. 


REPORT  J. \r,    AXl)    IXSI'KCTION 


i8i 


2  To  inspect  classroom  work  and  study  its  scope  and  quality. 

3  To  give  friendly  criticism  with  a  view  to  correcting  found  de- 
fects. 

4  To  enable  schools  lo  profit  by  satisfactory  experience  in  other 
schools. 

5  To  establish  more  sympathetic  and  close  relations  between  the 
University  and  its  various  schools. 

6  To  explain  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Regents  and  to  give 
explanations,  particularly  of  the  examinations  which  were  radically 
modified  in  1890.*^ 

Results  are  not  easy  to  measure,  except  in  the  number  of  institu- 
tions visited.  This  slighdy  exceeded  100  in  the  first  year  and  gradu- 
ally increased  until  in  1895  it  was  announced  that  for  the  first  time 
all  the  institutions  were  visited.  Shortage  of  help  in  this  depart- 
ment made  it  impracticable  for  the  inspectors  to  make  but  one  visit 
a  year  and  these  visits  in  1895  averaged  less  than  a  day  in  length. 
Many  schools  were  found  to  be  failing  to  meet  the  requirements  in 
equipment  and  buildings,  libraries  were  found  generally  unavailable 
for  pupils'  use  and  apparatus  was  ill  assorted  and  often  in  a  state  of 
decay.*^  Inspectors  reported,  however,  that  they  found  an  excellent 
spirit  of  cooperation  in  remedying  the  deficiencies  and  that  they  were 
welcomed  back.  Sometimes  special  meetings  were  held  where  the 
inspector  might  have  full  opportunity  to  make  explanations  con- 
cerning the  Regents  rules  and  ordinances.  The  more  than  doubling 
of  the  number  of  institutions  in  this  decade  and  the  need  for  the  use 
of  v/ell-trained  men  in  other  departments  than  inspection  made  it 
impossible  for  the  inspectors  to  keep  up  with  the  needs.  If  the 
more  or  less  hostile  reports  of  the  inspectors  of  the  Department  of 
Public  Instruction  w^ere  taken  at  face  value,  many  very  inadequate 
high  schools  were  passed  by  and  the  Regents  ordinances  were  ob- 
serv^ed  but  little  better  in  the  majority  of  schools  than  before. 
However,  Secretary  Dewey  continued  to  urge  this  work  as  one  of 
greatest  importance,**  and  by  1894  it  was  made  an  independent 
division  of  the  executive  department,  responsible  for  a  written  re- 
port based  on  personal  inspection  of  every  institution  in  the  Univer- 
sity at  least  once  each  year.*^ 

By  this  time  inspectors  came  to  be  required  in  examinations  and 
other  work  only  during  vacations.     They  met  once  a  month  and 


**  Regents  Rep'ts,  1892,  p.  r2i ;  1895,  p.  200-2.  Cf .  revision  in  Regents 
Rep't,   1903,  p.   r28. 

*"  Regents  Rep't,  1891.  p.  ri6-i7. 

**  Regents  Rep'ts,  1891,  p.  ri5-i8;  1892,  p.  r2i-26;  1893,  p.  r26-33 ;  1894, 
I :ri38-i63. 

*"  Regents  Rep'ts,  1894,  p.  ri39;  1895,  i  :r62. 


1(52  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

compared  notes  and  at  all  limes  the  office  kept  in  touch  with  them 
through  a  daily  report  and  through  the  sending  of  all  University 
literature  to  them.  The  inspectors  were  provided  with  a  four-page 
form  for  detailed  reports  on  the  following  topics :  grounds,  build- 
ings, library,  apparatus,  teachers,  pupils,  course  of  study,  student 
organizations,  opinions  of  teachers  and  general  remarks.*"  In  addi- 
tion a  beginning  was  made  of  the  specialization  of  inspection,  one 
inspector  devoting  his  time  to  science.*^  His  work  in  repairing  ap- 
paratus, directing  teachers  in  making  repairs  and  arousing  the  inter- 
est of  boards  of  education  to  increase  the  facilities  was  the  most 
appreciated  and  most  frequently  commented  upon  in  questionnaires 
sent  out  by  the  Regents.  It  was  estimated  that  in  a  period  of  a  little 
over  a  year,  $12,400  were  saved,  or  about  five  times  the  cost  to  the 
State.*^ 

The  natural  result  was  an  extension  of  the  number  of  inspectors 
and  improved  methods  of  inspection.  Honorary  inspectors  were 
appointed  in  1894  largely  from  the  faculties  of  the  colleges  and  uni- 
versities. Their  services  were  paid  by  the  schools  visited.  Two 
years  later  the  paid  service  was  so  extended  and  so  specialized  that 
there  were  on  the  staff  seven  inspectors,  including  a  literature  in- 
spector, a  composition  inspector,  an  apparatus  inspector,  while  there 
were  urged  a  drawing  and  a  science  inspector.*^  The  first  specializa- 
tion we  noted  grew  out  of  recognized  laxness  in  the  schools  in  pro- 
viding the  required  scientific  apparatus ;  the  appointment  of  the 
inspectors  in  English  resulted  from  a  concentrated  effort  to  improve 
the  teaching  of  that  subject.  Interest  in  drawing  had  been  increas- 
ing rapidly  and  Massachusetts  was  at  this  time  providing  out  of 
seven  state  agents  or  inspectors  two  in  drawing  alone.^°  A  large 
amount  of  the  time  of  the  inspectors  was  devoted  to  special  calls 
from  principals,  trustees  and  teachers  and  the  point  of  view  was 
now  taken  by  the  Regents  that  the  insi^ection  ought  to  be  specialized 
for  the  best  and  wisest  investment  of  salaries  and  time.''^ 

Their  work  was  by  no  means  limited  to  the  actual  visits  upon  the 
schools  but  much  help  was  given  through  correspondence  and  in 
consultations  at  the  various  slate  meetings  of  teachers. ^^     The  ex- 


**  Regents  Rep't,  1894,  p.  ri4i-3. 
"  Regents  Rep't,  1893,  p.  227-31. 

**  Regents  Rep't,  1894,  p.  ri46.     Cf.    Regents   Rep'ts,    1893,    i:r26-3i;    1899, 
Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :362-66. 
'•  Regents  Rep't,  1897,  i  •.237-39. 
°"  Regents  Rep't,  1897,  i  :225. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  238-39. 
"Regents  Rep'ts,  1897,  i:r48;  1899,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :3S9- 


REPORTING    AND    INSPECTION  183 

tremely  rapid  growth  of  small  high  schools  and  the  classitication  into 
four  grades/  led  to  a  new  need  of  inspection,  namely,  to  decide 
whether  schools  applying  for  admission  had  the  requisite  equipment 
for  admission  and  whether  those  seeking  an  advanced  grade  had 
made  the  requisite  changes  therefor.  In  1896  seventy  applications 
for  admission  were  made  and  two  or  three  visits  were  made  to  each 
so  that  the  full  time  of  one  inspector  was  taken  for  that  work.^^ 
In  spite  of  this  care,  for  the  next  few  years  large  numbers  of  schools 
were  reported  deficient  in  library  and  apparatus.  The  Regents, 
however,  passed  numerous  supplementary  ordinances  prescribing 
the  minimum  equipment,  teaching  force  and  number  of  pupils. 

As  early  as  1892,  the  opinion  was  ventured  in  the  inspection  report 
that  "no  better  instrumentality  for  the  betterment  of  schools  exists 
than  inspection."^*  After  the  examination  revision  of  1895,  in 
which  encouragement  was  given  for  the  longer  and  better  balanced 
courses  of  study,  inspection  came  to  be  recognized  more  and  more 
as  an  essential  feature  of  tlie  system  and  one  without  which  state 
aid  and  state  syllabuses  might  accomplish  very  little  either  in  rais- 
ing the  standards  of  individual  schools  or  of  the  system  as  a  whole. 

Perhaps  the  most  elaborate  reports  of  inspection  are  those  for  the 
years  1897  and  1898.^^  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  premium  was 
so  far  placed  upon  inspection  that  if  two  University  inspectors  held 
that  the  standards  of  local  examination  for  entrance  into  an  academi- 
cal department  were  higher  than  the  requirements  of  the  examina- 
tion for  the  preliminary  certificate,  entering  pupils  might  be  counted 
in  the  distribution  of  state  funds  without  that  certificate.  While  the 
report  of  the  former  year  insisted  that  the  records  of  this  work  must 
necessarily  be  largely  qualitative  rather  than  quantitative,  yet  de- 
tailed statements  are  given  under  each  of  the  general  heads  of  the 
forms  in  use.  During  the  former  year  758  visits  were  made  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  a  considerable  amount  of  the  time  of  the  inspectors 
was  as  in  former  years  devoted  to  preparing  and  reading  the 
examinations.  This  practice  w^as  held  to  be  valuable  not  only  to 
the  school  but  also  to  the  examination  and  inspection  departments 
through  a  better  understanding  and  adjustment  of  the  various  types 
of  work  to  each  other  and  to  the  needs  of  the  schools.^*' 

Many  interesting  facts  and  suggestions  were  made  in  these  re- 
ports.    ( I )   Libraries  were  found  to  be  very  inadequately  cataloged 


"  Rej^ents  Rep't,  1897,  P-  H9- 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1893,  p.r26. 

"Regents  Rep'ts,  1898    i:r86-Q6;  1899,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  355-66. 

"■Regents  Rep't.   1901,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  p.  ri7-i8. 


184  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

and  sometimes  locked  up.  Accession  books  and  greater  wisdom  in 
the  choice  of  books  were  the  most  common  needs.  (2)  Schools  on 
the  whole  had  required  the  requisite  amount  of  apparatus  but  it 
was  greatl}-  out  of  repair  and  without  cases  for  its  protection.  (3) 
Special  inspection  of  science  and  the  more  rigorous  examination  in 
English  were  resulting  in  more  attention  to  these  subjects  and  sub- 
sequently would  react  upon  the  teaching  staff.  In  science  the  ten- 
dency was  away  from  the  short  textbook  course.  (4)  The  teaching 
staff  was  gradually  improving  so  that  there  were  a  number  of 
schools  where  only  college  graduates  were  employed  and  others 
where  special  fitness  for  the  subjects  to  be  taught  was  considered. 
It  was  recommended  that  a  special  certificate  for  academic  teachers 
be  required.  (5)  Great  variety  was  still  found  both  in  the  admis- 
sion requirement  of  various  schools  and  in  the  requirement  for 
graduation  and  the  suggestion  was  made  that,  with  allowance  for 
individuals,  the  Regents  preliminary  certificate  and  academic  diploma 
be  respectively  made  the  general  standards.  (6)  The  work  in  the 
classification  of  schools  was  reported  as  probably  the  most  valuable 
single  influence  upon  secondary  education.  Opposed  to  the  danger 
of  the  small  schools  attempting  too  much,  facilities  were  now  being 
brought  to  many  small  villages  and  190  schools  of  the  two  lower 
grades  were  caring  for  7988  pupils  who  otherwise  would  have  had 
no  opportunity  for  secondary  education.  (7)  Courses  of  study 
were  feeling  the  influence  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  report  and  other 
studies  and  were  clearly  becoming  standardized  and  better  balanced. 
These  items  continued  to  appear  in  the  annual  reports  and  prog- 
ress was  indicated  and  recommendations  were  made  along  these 
several  lines.  But  new  obligations  were  added  with  each  syllabus 
revision.  The  most  important  work  following  the  1900  syllabus  was 
that  of  accrediting  courses  in  science.  The  new  requirement  was 
printed  in  a  circular  to  the  principals  and  read  as  follows: 

A  laboratory  course  previously  approved  by  an  inspector,  with  notebook 
certified  by  the  principal,  may  receive  20  credits  toward  the  examination,  in 
which  case  only  eight  questions  are  to  be  answered.  An  approved  laboratory 
course  must  consist  of  at  least  70  exercises  a  year,  35  a  half  year,  of  at  least 
40  minutes  each,  and  the  school  must  provide  adequate  facilities  and  super- 
vision for  individual  work.  Schools  wishing  their  laboratory  courses  approved 
should  file  as  early  as  possible  a  request  to  that  effect." 

The  premium  placed  upon  relief  from  one-fifth  of  the  regular 
examination  caused  237  schools  to  apply  for  the  approval  of  courses 


Regents  Rep't,  1902,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :r8. 


REPORTING    AND    INSPECTION  Ibj 

and  1 80  courses  were  definitely  approved  in  physics,  botany,  zoology 
and  chemistry.  The  values  of  this  new  step  were  clearly  seen  to  be 
the  increase  of  pupils  in  science,  the  larger  emphasis  on  laboratory 
work  and  the  attempt  of  a  large  number  of  schools  to  remove  their 
deficiencies  of  equipment.  On  the  side  of  the  state  administration 
it  represented  a  definite  acceptance  of  the  principle  that  inspection 
might  displace  examinations  as  a  means  to  determining  the  adequacy 
of  the  standards  of  the  schools  both  in  matters  of  equipment  and 
courses  of  study .^^  But  one  visit  a  year  was  possible  as  late  as 
1904;  yet,  because  of  the  frequent  changes  in  numbers  of  teachers 
and  pupils  and  in  the  equipment,  the  approval  was  granted  for  one 
year  only.^^  In  1903,  329  applications  were  made  for  the  approval 
of  courses  and  261  were  granted.  The  Regents  summed  up  the 
effects  of  the  method  as  follows :  "  better  rooms  for  laboratories, 
facilities  for  individual  work,  insistence  on  the  preparation  of  good 
notebooks  by  the  students  and  adequate  supervision  of  the  work 
while  it  is  in  progress."""  Printed  instructions  concerning  the  ap- 
proval of  courses  were  supplemented  with  detailed  suggestions  con- 
cerning the  method  of  keeping  notebooks,  the  amount  of  time  to  be 
devoted  to  laboratory  work  and  the  minimum  equipment  for  each 
science. 

With  the  amalgamation  of  the  University  and  the  Department  of 
Public  Instruction  in  1904,  came  the  establishment  of  a  single  system 
of  inspection.  The  meager  reports  of  the  next  five  years  indicate  a 
tendency  to  give  the  larger  amount  of  attention  to  the  elementary 
schools  and  to  problems  of  the  more  adequate  correlation  of  the 
elementary  and  secondary  systems,  a  matter  which  had  been  very 
much  neglected.  With  the  aim  of  fostering  local  independence  in 
supervision  and  therefore  of  attending  less  to  matters  of  detail  than 
hitherto,  it  came  to  be  felt  by  the  State  Department  that  the  great 
problem  centered  in  more  definite  and  intelligent  supervision  by  the 
principals."^  The  provision  at  this  time  for  professional  certificates 
of  secondary  teachers  and  the  rising  standards  of  the  profession 
have  recently  removed  many  of  the  minor  needs  of  st-ate  supervision. 
However,  the  work  of  the  inspectors  has  been  more  highly  special- 
ized from  time  to  time,  and  the  tendency  has  grown  to  secure 
through  inspection  results  formerly  sought  through  examinations. 

''  Regents  Rep't,  1901,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,   i  :ri8.     Cf.  Regents  Rep't,   1899, 
Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  2:333- 
"^  Regents  Rep't,  1904,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :ri2-i4. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  ri3. 
*^  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1911,   1:109. 


l86  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

Summary  and  Conclusions 

1  During  the  first  century  of  the  history  of  secondary  education 
ni  New  York,  visitation  or  inspection  of  the  schools  by  the  Univer- 
city  was  carried  on  irregularly  and  sporadically.  For  the  most 
part,  members  of  the  Board  went  on  short  trips  to  nearby  schools  or 
attended  the  more  important  school  events.  An  exception  should 
be  made  in  regard  to  the  period  from  1853-74  when  visits  were 
made  more  frequently  and  some  definite  results  were  obtained, 
particularly  the  determination  of  the  status  of  a  large  list  of  non- 
reporting  schools. 

2  During  the  first  three-quarters  of  this  century  it  was  believed 
that  much  the  same  purpose  was  served  by  the  detailed  annual  re- 
ports of  the  schools  which  were  summarized  in  the  annual  Regents 
reports.  From  1864  on,  the  Regents  examinations  were  agreed  upon 
as  an  adequate  substitute  for  inspection,  especially  as  the  detailed 
reports  were  still  required. 

3  The  experiment  was  made  in  the  eighties,  however,  of  appoint- 
ing an  inspector  from  without  the  Board  for  the  teachers  training 
classes  in  the  secondary  schools.  Soon  after  this  work  was  shifted 
to  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction,  but  in  1890,  general  in- 
spectors were  appointed.  The  step  was  favorably  regarded  by  the 
Lchools  as  well  as  by  professional  people  in  general  and  rapidly  was 
extended  and  differentiated,  beginning  with  inspectors  in  natural 
science  and  English. 

4  More  recently  many  of  the  functions  formerly  served  by  reports 
and  also  by  examinations  have  been  definitely  cared  for  by  inspec- 
tion. The  policy  of  the  past  ten  years  is  clearly  one  of  making  the 
effort  to  put  this  department  on  a  basis  of  expert  supervision  and 
of  making  it  a  means  to  directing  also  the  supervisory  duties  of 
secondary  school  principals. 


INTERPRETATION    OF    TENDENCIES  187 

Chapter  7 

Summary  of  Conclusions:  Interpretation  of  Tendencies 

I   Educational  Conditions  and  Influences  of  Period  Prior  to  Rise  of 

the  High  School 
In  chapter  i  the  more  pertinent  educational  tendencies  up  to  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  traced  in  some  detail.     A 
brief  summary  is  given  here  as  a  basis  for  further  interpretations 
and  conclusions. 

0  Public  Secondary  Education  in  Colonial  New  York 
Unlike  Massachusetts  and,  to  a  lesser  extent,  the  other  New  Eng- 
land colonies,  the  Latin  grammar  school  never  flourished  in  New 
York.  At  least  three  attempts  made  by  the  Dutch  to  establish  such 
public  schools,  were  very  short-lived  and  two  similar  attempts  by 
the  English  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  no  more 
significant  in  creating  an  educational  tradition.  All  these  schools 
were  limited  to  New  York  City.  In  the  case  of  the  Dutch  the  domi- 
nance of  trading  interests  and  the  continual  state  of  war  with  the 
Indians,  and  in  the  case  of  the  English  the  acceptance  of  the  volun- 
tary principle,  accounted  in  large  part  for  this  lack  of  provision  of 
secondary  educational  facilities.  In  addition  two  other  factors  were 
significant:  (i)  the  lack  of  the  stimulus  of  higher  educational  facili- 
ties such  as  those  afforded  by  Harvard  and  Yale  in  New  England 
and  by  William  and  Mary  in  Virginia  and  (2)  the  essentially  com- 
mercial and  practical  needs,  especially  of  the  metropolis,  such  that 
private  schools,  in  which  were  taught  navigation,  surveying,  arith- 
metic and  the  like,  were  in  greater  demand. 

b  The  Place  of  the  Academy  in  Nczv  York  Education 
Contemporaneously  with  the  establishment  of  peace  at  the  close  of 
the  Revolution,  the  recently  founded  King's  College  was  rehabili- 
tated and  the  academy  system  was  initiated  under  the  Board  of 
Regents  of  The  University  of  New  York  State.  This  conception  of 
a  nonteaching,  supervisory  university  may  have  been  derived  from 
reform  ideas  projected  in  France  at  this  time.^  The  academies  grew 
in  numbers  so  rapidly  that  by  1820,  48  had  been  incorporated;  by 
1830,  48  more;  and  by  1840,  114  more;  and  by  1850,  or  contem- 
poraneously with  the  first  high  schools,  76  more,  a  total  of  286.^  Of 
these,  somewhat  more  than  one-half  were  reporting  in  1850  and  per- 


'  Sherwood,  S.,  T'he  University  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
'See  table  i;  cf.  Inglis,  table  2  (for  Massachusetts). 


l88  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

haps  a  third  had  never  been  founded  or  were  defunct.  Even  at 
that  the  growth  in  numbers  of  schools  and  pupils  was  truly 
phenomenal,  as  was  also  that  in  the  teaching  staff  and  financial 
status.^  From  this  point  on  there  was  a  decline  correlative  with  the 
rise  of  the  high  school,  except  for  a  period  of  acceleration  subse- 
quent to  1885  due  to  the  incorporation  of  Roman  Catholic  academies 
and  commercial  schools.*  By  1875  the  numerical  superiority  of  the 
high  school  over  the  academy  was  established  both  as  regards 
schools  and  pupils.^  The  educational  leadership  of  the  State  in 
secondary  education,  however,  may  scarcely  be  said  to  have  passed 
to  the  high  schools  for  a  decade  or  so  more,  due  to  the  persistence  of 
the  academy  tradition,  the  permanence  of  the  stronger  schools  and 
the  high  quality  of  scholarship  and  ability  of  a  few  academy 
principals. 

The  State's  encouragement  of  the  academies  through  aid,  the 
definition  of  standards  and  the  actual  incorporation  into  the  Uni- 
versity, made  them  to  all  intents  and  purposes  public  institutions,  ex- 
cept that  on  the  whole  local  support  and  control  were  vested  in  self- 
perpetuating  boards  of  trustees.  Their  contributions  to  theory  and 
practice  in  New  York  education,  which  bear  upon  this  discussion, 
include  the  following:  (i)  a  conception  of  secondary  education  as 
preparing  directly  for  various  life  callings,  including,  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  century,  the  professions;  (2)  specialized  training  for 
teachers  of  the  lower  schools,  the  earliest  development  in  any  state 
of  secondary  courses  preparing  directly  for  this  work;  (3)  a  diversi- 
fied curriculum,  not  well  organized  but  including  a  wide  range  of 
materials  in  sciences  and  languages ;  (4)  the  practice  of  extending 
equivalent  educational  opportunities  to  girls  so  that  for  practically  a 
century  their  number  has  been  in  excess  of  that  of  the  boys  in  New 
York  secondary  schools;  (5)  the  devotion  to  secondary  education 
of  a  large  sum  of  money  mainly  in  buildings  and  equipment,  which 
were  transferred  to  the  high  schools  upon  their  merging;"  (6)  a 
local  tradition  of  higher  education  extending  out  into  the  rural  com- 
munities in  many  cases,  making  the  transition  to  the  high  school  in 
some  cases  difficult  and  in  others  easy;  (7)  the  view  that  the  full 
establishment  of  a  secondary  school  involved  formal  recognition  by 
the  Board  of  Regents  and  admission  to  the  privileges  of  the  Univer- 
sity. 

It  must,  however,  be  clearly  stated  that  the  successful  working  of 


*  See  table  2. 

*  See  table  12.  and  graph  introducing  Part  II. 
"  See  table  14. 

*  See  table  11 


INTERPRETATION    OF   TENDENCIES  189 

the  academy  system  made  its  intrenchment  in  some  respects  inimical 
to  the  development  of  the  high  school.  The  insistence  by  the 
Regents,  as  late  as  1900,  that  they  were  public,  and  not  private,  in- 
stitutions and  that  in  all  respects  they  should  share  equally  in  all 
academic  appropriations  operated  alike  in  their  persistence  as  a 
system  and  in  the  final  knitting  up  of  the  elementaiy  and  secondary 
systems.  The  generic  name  academies  is  still  used  in  legal  and  other 
state  documents  to  cover  the  whole  field  of  secondary  education  and 
that  of  academical  departments  to  denote  the  high  school,  but  the 
old-line  academy  had  largely  accomplished  its  work  by  1875-80. 

c  The  Development  of  the  Elementary  School 
The  so-called  common  school  system  feebly  initiated  in  1795  was 
really  established  in  1812  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  later  than  the 
University  and  was  placed  under  a  different  jurisdiction  until  1904. 
The  lack  of  articulation  between  the  two  systems  and  the  slow 
progress  of  centralization  in  the  lower  schools,  particularly  from 
1 82 1  to  1854  when  administered  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  were 
definite  factors  in  the  tardy  extension  of  common  school  studies  into 
the  secondary  field,  cooperating  with  the  complete  lack  of  a  con- 
tinuous tradition  of  public  school  education  in  the  colony  and  state. 
This  extension  of  studies  did  begin  to  become  significant  in  the 
forties  after  the  increased  state  aid  through  the  United  States 
deposit  fund.  This  tendency  was  reenforced  by  voluntary  and 
official  encouragement,  at  this  time  of  culmination  of  the  "  educa- 
tional revival  "  in  the  State.'' 

Of  great  significance  was  the  recognition  of  the  failure  of  the 
district  system  with  its  decentralizing  tendencies  and  its  placement  of 
the  premium  upon  small  classes,  poorly  prepared  teachers  and  inade- 
quate equipment.  To  some  extent  the  town  school  commissioners 
stemmed  the  tide  but  simultaneously  the  conception  of  the  union 
school  district  arose,  probably  brought  in  from  Massachusetts,  and 
proved  to  be  the  general  method  of  solution  of  the  difficulty.  By 
1845  numerous  villages  had  adopted  this  method  in  part  or  whole, 
finding  that  economy  supplemented  efficiency  and  in  1853  the  union 
school  act  was  passed.  This  act  with  subsequent  revisions  provided 
a  unique  form  of  organization  which  was  supplemented  only  very  re- 
cently with  the  long-advocated  township  system.  Provisions  of 
this  law  facilitated  at  once  the  improvement  of  the  lower  schools,  the 
establishment  of  academical  departments  or  high  schools  and  the 
absorption  of  the  academies  therewith. 

'  See  table  5- 


190  THE    NEW    VORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

2  A  Comparative  View  of  the  Establishment  of  High  Schools:  Dis- 
tribution of  High  Scliools  and  of  Pupils 

a  The  establishment  and  admission  of  high  schools.  As  previ- 
ously stated,  the  study  of  local  records  has  been  comparatively  im- 
practicable because  of  the  number  of  high  schools,  approximately 
seven  hundred,  and  of  academies,  between  five  hundred  and  six  hun- 
dred, which  were  little  less  significant  for  the  study,  as  their  history 
indicated  tendencies  toward  a  more  completely  public  form  of  edu- 
cation. The  body  of  special  and  general  legislation  for  a  century 
and  a  third,  and  the  legal  documents  for  a  considerable  part  of  this 
same  period,  were  studied  in  detail.  In  addition  the  school  reports 
of  the  cities  were  studied  for  a  period  from  about  1840  to  i860,  at 
the  time  of  initiation  of  high  schools  in  most  of  them.  The  data 
that  were  more  largely  used  and  w^hich  fitted  best  the  general  pur- 
poses of  this  study  were  found  principally  in  the  annual  and  special 
reports  of  the  Board  of  Regents  and  the  State  Superintendent,  and 
the  minutes  of  the  former.  On  the  whole  therefore  the  dates  as- 
signed to  individual  schools  do  not  indicate  the  first  offering  of 
higher  subjects  or  the  initial  steps  of  organization,  but  the  actual 
admission  into  the  University,  which  was  so  generally  considered 
desirable  that  most  schools  sought  it  as  soon  as  organization  was  at 
all  complete.  In  fact  in  the  periods  of  most  rapid  growth  from  1865 
to  1875  and  in  the  nineties,  it  was  a  matter  of  grave  concern  to  the 
Regents,  particularly  without  means  of  inspection  in  the  earlier 
period,  to  prevent  schools  with  inadequate  equipment  from  entering 
the  University.  Specifically  therefore  the  establishment  of  a  high 
school  means  that,  under  the  direction  of  the  school  trustees  or  a 
board  of  education  and  usually  with  the  type  of  organization  known 
as  the  union  school,  provision  was  made  by  tbe  community  for 
higher  or  academic  studies  and  for  a  library  and  apparatus,  all  sub- 
ject to  the  ordinances  and  requirements  of  the  Regents,  and  that 
therefore  the  school  was  entitled  to  the  various  privileges  of  the 
University,  the  most  coveted  of  which  was  participation  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  state  funds. 

With  this  more  or  less  definite  standard  we  find  that  no  high 
schools  were  established  before  1845,  only  2  before  1850,  but  21  by 
i860,  but  that  from  1855  on,  that  is,  with  the  passage  of  the  permis- 
sive union  school  law  providing  a  form  of  organization  and  admis- 
sion, growth  went  ahead  at  a  fair  rate.  The  phenomenal  growth 
in  the  nineties  when  one-half  of  the  total  number  of  schools  was  ad- 
mitted was,  as  seen  in  table  21,  paralleled  by  a  corresponding  de- 


INTERPRETATION    OF    TENDENCIES 


191 


velopment  in  the  country  as  a  whole  but  was  accelerated  in  New 
York  by  a  poHcy  of  encouragement  of  less  than  three-year  and  four- 
year  high  schools. 

Table  21 

Comparative  statistics  of  establishment  of  high  schools  in  New  York 

and  elsewhere 


Before  1820. 
1821-1830. . 
1831-1840. . 
1841-1850.  . 
18S1-1860.  . 
1861-1870.  . 
i87i-if8o. . 
1881-1890. . 
1891-1900. . 


FKOM  U.  S.  commissioner's 
REPORT  1 


United 
States  2 


7 

14 

43 

108 

177 

479 

829 

I   320 


Mass. 


New 
York 


CORRECTED 


New 
York  3 


72 

349 


Mass.* 


3 
IS 
29 
6S 


'For  1904,  2:    p   1782-1989. 

2  Compiled  from  same  source,  by  Dexter,  History  of  Education  in  the  United  States,  p.  173, 
dates  given  being  1820-29,  1830-30,  1840-49,  etc. 

3  See  table  12. 

*  See  Inglis,  op.  cit.,  p.  46. 

b  Comparative  view  of  rise  of  high  school  in  New  York  and 
elseit'here.  From  table  21  certain  conclusions  may  be  drawn:  (i) 
the  relative  accuracy  of  the  data  as  reported  by  individual  schools 
in  the  Commissioner's  Report  in  indicating  the  trend  of  high  school 
development  but  the  relative  inaccuracy  as  to  the  numbers  of  schools 
for  a  given  state  during  any  period  of  time,  (2)  the  smallness  of 
the  number  of  schools  for  the  whole  country  such  that  the  sum  of 
the  corrected  numbers  for  two  states  was  by  i860  but  little  short  of 
the  total  reported  for  the  whole  country,  and  (3)  a  considerably 
earlier  development  in  Massachusetts  than  in  New  York,^ 

The  general  conclusion  is  that  any  statements  available  as  yet  con- 
cerning the  number  of  high  schools  previous  to  the  Civil  War  or  to 
1850  are  estimated  too  low.^  For  example,  Dexter  finds  but  17 
high  schools  previous  to  1850  while  the  writer,  by  supplementing 
Inglis's  findings  in  Massachusetts  with  a  study  of  scattered  records, 
finds  no  less  than  60,  of  which  New  York  furnished  but  2.  More- 
over, of  the  twenty  schools  listed  in  the  Commissioner's  Report  for 
New  York  for  the  period,  only  one  appears  to  be  reported  for  the 
right  year,  and  three  others  are  within  a  guinquennial  of  the  accurate 


'  Cf .  Inglis,  p.  155;  table  35  for  Ohio. 
•  Cf.  Inglis,  p.  154-56. 


192  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

date,  the  reference  apparently  being  to  some  special  law.  The 
remaining  dates  are  those  of  the  establishment  of  an  elementary 
school  or  s}stem,  or  of  a  local  academy,  so  that  the  dates  given  do  not 
correspond,  one  being  a  whole  century  too  early.  Of  23  schools 
reported  to  have  been  established  in  the  fifties,  only  8  are  reported 
approximately  correctly  but  in  the  next  decade,  out  of  28,  22  are  so 
reported.  As  regards  the  corrected  column  in  table  21  it  should  be 
added  that  Inglis  regarded  but  68  of  the  112  schools  established  be- 
fore the  Civil  War  in  Massachusetts  as  bona  fide  high  schools,"  while 
of  the  595  New  York  schools,  565  reported  to  the  Regents  in  1900. 

c  Distribution  of  schools  and  pupils.  In  Massachusetts,  both  the 
Latin  grammar  school  legislation  and  the  early  high  school  legisla- 
tion had  made  the  establishment  of  these  higher  schools  compulsory 
upon  towns  having  a  certain  population.  In  New  York,  without 
mandator}^  legislation,  there  was  great  irregularity  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  schools.  In  the  year  of  the  passage  of  the  union  free  school 
act  in  1853,  four  counties  had  no  high  schools  or  academies  and 
this  remained  true  of  Hamilton  county,  as  also  of  New  York  county, 
after  the  Free  Academy  became  a  college,  until  practically  the  cen- 
tury's end.  The  distribution  in  1853  was  such  that  aside  from  the 
counties  without  secondary  schools,  the  great  majority  had  from  one 
to  four  schools.  The  median  number  was  3,  and  the  highest  num- 
ber was  13.  Each  section  of  the  State  was  characterized  by  a 
diversity  of  secondary  school  facilities  but  the  counties  of  the  Upper 
Hudson  and  the  Mohawk  River  valleys  ranked  highest  and  the 
northern  and  southern  counties  ranked  lowest.  ( See  map,  frontis- 
piece.) 

The  result  was  that  facilities  varied  to  such  an  extent  that  one 
county  had  a  reporting  secondary  school  for  every  5000  inhabitants 
and  one,  New  York,  had  only  one  for  every  140,000,  with  the 
median  at  approximately  one  for  every  13,000.  The  average  for 
the  State  as  a  whole  with  about  200  academies  was  one  school  for 
every  16,000  or  if  the  actual  number  of  academies  reporting  year  by 
}ear  be  taken,  one  for  every  19,000.  Naturally  this  general  view 
needs  to  take  into  account  the  diversity  of  size  of  these  schools  such 
that  a  number  reported  15  to  20  pupils  while  one  reported  811. 
Over  half,  87  out  of  165,  reported  from  50  to  150  pupils;  44  per 
cent  reported  less  than  100  pupils,  66  per  cent  less  than  150  and  all 
but  17  per  cent  less  than  200.  The  ratio  of  pupils  to  the  population 
of  the  State  taken  as  a  whole  was  i  to  100.  Reference  to  table 
14  will  show,  however,  that  not  more  than  one-half,  perhaps  even 

'"  Ibid.,  p.  153. 


INTERPRETATION    OF    TENDENCIES  193 

one-fourth,  were  secondary  pupils  according  to  the  Regents  stand- 
ards. 

A  vigorous  protest  was  raised  in  an  address  before  the  New  York 
State  Teachers  Association  in  1858  against  the  ahnost  complete 
lack  of  any  rational  plan  in  the  incorporation  of  academies. ^^  The 
argument  was  advanced  that  the  determining  factors  should  be 
population,  valuation,  area  and  accessibility.  A  comparison  was 
drawn  of  two  counties  and  the  following  differences  were  noted :  one 
with  a  population  of  107,749  and  taxable  property  worth  $811,193 
had  22  secondary  schools  while  another  with  19,669  inhabitants  and 
taxable  property  worth  $2,751,172  had  but  one  such  school.  This 
meant  that  with  similarly  adequate  traveling  facilities,  one  county 
had  one  academy  for  every  51  square  miles  and  the  other  one  for 
evei"y  911  square  miles.  By  reference  to  table  14  it  may  be  seen  that 
the  number  of  pupils  enrolled  did  not  rise  and  stay  at  a  higher  figure 
for  any  length  of  time  until  1885  and  that  the  numlers  rated  as 
academic  pupils  did  increase  through  the  next  decade  only  to  fall 
off  then  and  not  exceed  the  total  for  1850  for  a  period  of  forty 
years  when  the  state  academic  fund  was  increased  from  $40,000  to 
$100,000. 

Although  successive  as  well  as  earlier  reports  of  the  Regents  gave 
schedules  grouping  the  secondary  schools  by  counties,  the  matter  of 
distribution  of  schools  was  left  untouched  until  1890  when  at  the 
beginning  of  a  period  of  rapid  expansion  a  map  was  published  show- 
ing the  location  of  the  secondary  and  higher  schools.^^  The  schedule 
mentioned  above  was  extended  in  the  report  of  1894  to  include  addi- 
tional data  and  the  principle  was  enunciated  that  attention  should  "be 
paid  to  the  distribution  of  schools  by  counties  and  groups  of  coun- 
ties as  to  the  establishment  of  individual  schools.^^  An  analysis  of 
this  matter  in  the  same  report  showed  that  for  the  localities  support- 
ing schools  and  including  therefore  about  two-thirds  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  State,  practically  i  out  of  100  of  their  population  was 
in  attendance  in  the  secondary  schools.  Several  counties  exceeded 
this  average  considerably,  the  best  being  St  Law^-ence  and  Madison. 
The  latter  enrolled  3  per  cent  of  the  total  population,  while  on  the 
basis  of  local  population,  Yates  county  led  with  9  per  cent.  Five 
counties  ran  under  the  average,  Rensselaer,  Westchester,  Erie, 
Kings  and  New  York,  the  last  two  having  but  about  one-hundredth 
of  I  per  cent  in  secondary  schools.^*     Eliminating  Kings  and  New 


"New  York  Teacher,  8:7-8. 

"  Regents  Rep't,  1801,  v.  3.  ff.  p.  2506.     See  Regents  Rep't,  1898,  ff.  p.  rigo. 

^'  Regents  Rep't,  1894,  i  :r239-4i. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  r244. 

7 


194  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

York,  the  two  lowest  counties,  the  above  ratio  became  2.2  out  of  100, 
a  much  fairer  estimate,  or  i  out  of  180  of  the  total  population. 
Valuable  data  was  also  given  in  regard  to  the  taxable  property  and 
the  rank  of  each  county  shown  in  this  respect  as  also  in  population 
and  pupils,  and  the  percentage  of  pupils  to  local  and  total  popula- 
tion. In  1898,  a  comparative  study  showed  that  i  out  of  11  of  the 
public  high  schools  in  the  United  States  was  situated  in  New  York 
and  that  the  State  had  one  Regents  school  for  every  10,000  inhabi- 
tants while  Ohio  had  a  secondary  school  for  every  8000.^^ 

The  publication  of  such  data  showed  that  the  criticism  of  thirty- 
five  years  ago  was  now  being  seriously  considered  and,  although 
no  legislation  was  passed  or  other  direct  action  taken,  it  no  doubt 
had  its  influence.  Regard  was  had  by  the  Board,  and  particularly 
by  the  inspectors,  of  the  needs  of  given  localities.  Moreover,  the 
publication  of  the  names  of  incorporated  villages  without  Regents 
schools  was  very  effective  in  inducing  such  localities  to  greater 
efforts. ^*^  Table  22  indicates  briefly  the  progress  made  in  this  re- 
gard in  the  next  ten  years. 

Table  22 
Incorporated  villages  having  no  Regents  schools " 

Population  1892  1902 

Over  10,000  2 

5000-10,000  4 

2000-5000  15 

1000-2000  18 

500-1000  38                                                                14 

200-500  41                                                                23 

100-200  2                                                                  I 

The  Regents  had  in  the  meantime  adopted  a  system  of  classifica- 
tion or  grading  of  schools  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  in 
great  numbers  of  one-year  and  two-year  high  schools.  In  1903  the 
pa}anent  of  nonresident  tuition  was  begun,  one  of  the  most  forceful 
arguments  used  being  that  a  relatively  large  number,  from  one- 
fourth  to  one-third,  of  these  pupils  were  in  attendance  upon  village 
high  schools.^®  The  equalization  of  opportunity  was  thus  probably 
carried  as  far  as  feasible  under  a  permissive  system.  Interesting 
developments  may  be  expected  from  recent  legislation  providing  for 


"  Regents  Rep't,  1898,  i  :r82. 

"Ibid.,  p.  r25i-54.  .      ,      ,  J 

"Resents  Rep'ts    1894,  i:r25o;  1903,  p.  ri5.     In  the  latter  year  203  second- 
ary schools  in  rural  districts  were  reported. 
"Regents  Rep't,  1904,  Rep't  H.  S.  Dep't,  i  :ri6. 


INTERPRETATION    OF    TENDENCIES  195 

two  variant  forms  of  consolidated  districts,  the  central  rural  school 
and  the  toWnship  system. 

In  1904,  the  committee  on  unification  of  the  two  state  departments 
made  an  exhaustive  study  of  conditions.^"  While  many  inadequate 
high  schools  of  junior  and  middle  rank  were  still  found,  it  was 
evident  that  the  Regents  were  pursuing  a  policy  of  elimination  and 
consolidation  which  together  with  inspection  was  making  these 
smaller  schools  of  at  least  equal  merit  with  similar  schools  in  other 
states.  The  advantage  of  these  schools  was  indicated  by  the  lessen- 
ing of  distances  of  secondary  educational  facilities  from  the  pupils. 
At  this  time  it  was  found  that  19  were  less  than  3  miles  apart;  28 
were  3  to  5  miles  apart;  87,  5  to  10  miles ;  55,  10  to  15 ;  7,  20  to  25. 
Their  discontinuance  would  have  meant  that  pupils  on  the  average 
would  have  9  miles  to  go  for  academic  instruction. 

3     The  State  System  of  Secondary  Education 

The  rise  of  the  system  of  secondary  education  in  New  York  has 
already  been  traced  briefly.  It  was  perhaps  inevitable  from  these 
beginnings  in  the  late  eighteenth  century  that  the  Regents  system,  in- 
cluding at  first  the  academies  and  later  both  the  academies  and  high 
schools,  should  take  its  place  as  the  earliest  and  strongest  of  the 
state  systems.-"  With  the  consolidation  with  the  Department  of 
Public  Instruction  in  1904,  its  strengths  were  conserved  and  its 
weaknesses  to  a  large  extent  eliminated  by  the  organization  of  con- 
trol of  the  secondary  schools  under  an  assistant  to  the  State  Com- 
missioner. The  discussion  that  follows  is  in  part  a  summary  regard- 
ing phases  of  the  state  system,  and  in  part  a  critical  interpretation 
of  these  and  other  administrative  methods  and  problems. 

a  Classification  and  standardisation  of  schools.  This  subject  has 
already  been  fully  treated  in  so  far  as  the  standards  set  and  main- 
tained and  the  consequent  establishment  of  secondary  schools  of  the 
various  grades.  It  remains  to  note  that  this  means  of  encourage- 
ment to  communities  unable  to  give  four  years  of  work  became  the 
source  of  more  definite  rulings  as  to  the  equipment,  library,  length 
of  session,  and  minimum  number  of  pupils  and  teachers  of  all 
schools.  In  particular  the  subjects  that  were  required  for  each 
grade  became  the  basis  of  a  standard  curriculum. 


^'  Senate  Dociiments,  1904,  no.  25,  p.  53-56. 

^  Goodwin.   E.   J.,   The   New  York   System   of   Secondary   Schools,   in   Ed. 
Rev.,  35:491-500. 


196  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

The  requirements,  however,  as  to  standard  equipment  have  been 
very  Httle  changed  since  the  estabhshment  of  the  ranliing  in  1894 
and  have  remained  practically  uniform  for  the  past  two  decades.-^ 
In  another  regard  also  the  standard  remains  in  doubt,  namely  the 
number  of  pupils.  Out  of  524  high  schools  in  1914,  7  had  less  than 
20  pupils ;  of  108  senior  schools,  24  had  less  than  20 ;  of  45  middle 
schools,  21  less  than  20;  also  43  out  of  55  junior  schools.-^  Those 
having  10  or  less  pupils  included  i  high  school,  2  senior  schools,  5 
middle  schools  and  22  junior  schools.  It  seems  probable,  in  light  of 
this  and  the  fact  that  in  other  respects  many  of  these  schools  are 
barely  meeting  the  required  standards,  that  some  other  solution 
might  to  advantage  be  found,  as,  for  example,  transportation  to 
other  schools  where  more  adequate  facilities  could  be  afforded.  It 
might  be  indeed  doubtful  whether  the  junior  or  one-year  school,  un- 
less reorganized  with  the  upper  grades  into  a  junior  high  school, 
should  be  "considered  as  at  all  a  permanent  type. 

b  Distribution  of  state  aid  to  high  schools.  It  has  been  seen  that 
state  aid  to  secondary  schools  dated  practically  from  the  establish- 
ment of  the  University  and  passed  through  several  stages.  In  the 
matter  of  sources  of  aid,  appropriations  became  by  the  end  of  the 
last  century  to  be  the  principal  means  of  aid  and,  when  the  two  state 
systems  were  joined,  the  academic  funds  were  transferred  to  the 
general  education  fund. 

The  basis  of  distribution  of  the  major  part  of  the  academic  funds 
until  1895,  ^^''^s  the  attendance  of  academic  pupils,  mea'^'red  in 
terms  of  subjects  pursued  first  as  indicated  in  the  principal  s  report 
and  later  as  determined  by  the  Regents  examinations.  Since  thai 
time  the  quota  of  $100  has  been  given  to  all  schools  in  recognition 
of  the  principle  of  need  and  more  recently  the  payment  of  large  sums 
for  nonresident  tuition  has  cooperated  to  equalize  opportunity  to  all 
parts  of  the  State.  Supplementary  sums  are  still  given  for  teacher- 
training  and  apparatus,  showing  that  the  policy  of  granting  special 
aid  for  special  services  is  evidently  recognized. 

On  the  whole,  it  would  appear  that  in  methods  of  distribution 
more  progress  has  been  made  than  in  the  adequacy  of  the  amount 
distributed  which  has,  as  in  most  states,  not  increased  proportion- 
ately to  the  needs.  Moreover,  the  quota  operates  to  a  certain  extent 
against  the  elevation  of  lower  grade  schools  into  higher  grade 
schools.  Neither  does  the  State  recognize  in  it  the  ranges  of  taxa- 
tion value  nor  the  number  of  teachers  employed. 


Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  191 5,  p.  247-49. 
Ibid.,  1915,  p.  872-901. 


INTERPRETATION    OF    TENDENCIES  197 

c  The  Regents  examinations  and  the  state  course  of  study.  The 
various  stages  in  the  history  of  the  examination  system  have  been 
traced  in  some  detail.  Owing  to  the  lack  of  adequate  methods  of 
determining  what  pupils  should  share  in  the  annual  apportionment 
of  academic  funds  and  to  the  lack  of  acciracy  in  the  reports  of  the 
principals,  the  Regents  in  1865  had  hit  upon  this  plan,  which  vv'as  in 
vogue  abroad  and  had  been  used  by  various  school  boards  to  fix 
a  standard  of  high  school  entrance.  In  1878  high  school  subjects 
were  included.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  examinations 
proved  an  excellent  means  of  improving  the  general  status  of  high 
school  work  and  of  supervising  in  an  impersonal  way  the  instruc- 
tion within  these  schools. 

Wilh  this  realization  the  Regents  began  to  outline  in  more  detail 
the  content  and  method  of  courses  in  syllabuses  which  from  1890 
to  1910  were  revised  every  five  years.  In  these  revisions  and  also 
in  the  various  supplementary  regulations  for  the  administration  of 
the  examinations,  the  work  of  the  Secretar}^  of  the  Board  came  more 
and  more  to  be  supplemented,  first  by  the  consensus  of  opinion  of 
the  academic  principals  of  the  State  and  later  by  the  action  of 
various  voluntary  associations  within  and  without  the  State.  The 
next  and  final  step  up  to  this  time  has  been  the  creation  of  a  State 
Examinations  Board  with  full  powers  in  the  preparation  of  the  ex- 
amination questions  and  with  large  legislative  responsibility  in  their 
administration,  subject  to  the  vote  of  the  Board  of  Regents. 

Within  recent  years,  it  has  become  evident  that  too  much  stress 
might  easily  be  placed  upon  the  examinations,  and  an  earlier  defen- 
sive position  has  been  largely  abandoned.  The  method  of  payment 
for  results  has  been  entirely  abandoned.  Elementary  branches  of  a 
number  of  subjects  are  no  longer  examined  and  the  placing  of  the 
correction  of  papers  in  elementary  branches  in  the  hands  of  the 
principals  will  undoubtedly  be  extended  to  some  degree  to  the  high 
school  subjects.  A  spirit  of  inquiry  and  investigation  into  every 
phase  of  the  problem  is  clearlv  indicated  in  the  more  recent  annual 
state  reports. 

Certain  other  well-defined  problems  still  maintain.  For  example, 
the  interest  from  the  time  of  establishment  of  the  academic  examina- 
tions in  defining  college  entrance  standards  and  of  ariiculating 
thereby  the  colleges  and  high  schools  has  given  rise  to  the  provision 
for  three  types  of  college  entrance  diplomas,  namely  in  arts,  science 
and  engineering.'^  A  limited  range  of  election  is  allowed  in  each 
course  but  the  inevitable  v.-ould  seem  to  be  too  large  a  shaping  of  high 


Ed,  Dcp't  Rep't,  1015,  p.  285-S7. 


198  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

school  courses  in  terms  of  the  coheges.  The  system  of  counts  which 
was  originally  based  on  a  plan  of  dividing  the  year  into  four 
quarters  and  which  tended  for  a  considerable  period  of  time  to 
promote  the  already  established  short  courses,  has  been  effectively 
readjusted.  It  remains  unique,  however,  and  apparently  might  well 
give  place  to  such  a  standard  as  the  unit  of  the  Carnegie  Founda- 
tion.-* 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  asked  whether  the  services  of  the 
academic  examination  in  standardizing  the  courses  of  study,  in 
articulating  the  secondary  schools  with  the  colleges  and  in  providing 
a  temporary  means  of  supervision,  may  not  perhaps  have  been  so 
effectively  rendered  that  the  resources  now  devoted  and  the  labor 
now  involved  in  their  conduct  might  well  be  gradually  turned  to 
other  accounts,  in  particular  supervision  or  inspection.-^ 

d  Reporting  and  inspection  of  schools.  The  history  of  these  two 
means  of  state  control  has  already  been  traced.  The  former  was 
until  1864  the  only  systematic  means  of  a  semblance  of  state  control 
and  maintenance  of  Regents  standards.  As  previously  indicated 
the  system  accomplished  a  great  deal  in  providing  most  valuable 
data  for  the  comparative  study  of  school  conditions  throughout  the 
State  but  the  examinations  proved  much  more  eft'ective  in  indicating 
the  actual  status  of  the  schools. 

Annual  reports  are  still  required  but  since  1890  systematic  in- 
spection has  gradually  devolved  into  a  most  promising  means  of 
supervision.  The  early  functions  of  determining  the  ranking  of 
schools  and  of  the  specific  inspection  and  repairing  of  apparatus 
have  been  extended  until  a  staff  of  nearly  a  score  of  supervisors 
with  special  assignments  has  been  created.  As  an  illustration  of 
this  specialization  may  be  cited  the  work  of  the  modern  language  in- 
spector whose  duty  it  is  to  determine  the  adequacy  of  oral  instruc- 
tion for  special  credit  to  the  i)upils.  Close  contact  has  always  been 
had  with  the  Examinations  Division  so  that  the  two  might  not  be 
working  at  cross  purposes  and  that  the  examinations  might  profit  by 
the  findings  of  inspectors  in  their  visits.  Similarly  the  status  of 
schools,  as  to  their  maintenance  of  the  standards  of  the  University 
and  their  meriting  of  general  or  special  forms  of  academic  aid,  is 
now  determined  by  the  inspectors.  In  this  work,  moreover,  the 
University  secures  its  most  personal  and  vital  form  of  contact  with 
the  schools  and  has  its  best  opportunity  for  constructive  direction  of 
their  work. 


"Ed.  Dep't  Rep't,  1913,  p.  121-22. 

"See  Ed.  Dep't  Rep't    1915.  p.  36-44,   for  statistics  and  graphs  indicating 
the  relative  cost  to  the  State  for  salaries,  and  other  expenses. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  largest  sources  of  information  used  in  this  study  were  the 
reports  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  of  the 
Department  of  Common  Schools,  and  the  legislative  enactments, 
supplemented  by  the  documents  and  journals  of  the  Assembly  and 
Senate.  Of  very  considerable  value  also  were  the  numerous  edu- 
cational journals,  official,  semi-official,  and  unofficial.  The  fol- 
lowing bibliography  includes  materials  which  in  one  way  or  another 
contributed  to  the  study  and  which  are  in  most  cases  referred  to 
at  some  point  throughout  the  study. 


Documents 

I.  Legislative  Documents. 

Assembly  Journals;  1691,  1773,  1784,  1820,  1837,  1864,  1904. 

Assembly  Documents;  1831,  1837-1864,   1904. 

Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York;  1821,  1846,  1894. 

Laws  of  Colonial  New  York,  I,  II, 

Laws  of  the  State  of  New  York;  1782-1916.  Revised  Stat- 
utes, 1829,  1836. 

Messages  of  the  Governors  (edited  by  C.  Z.  Lincoln)  ;  also 
in  Assembly  and  Senate  Journals. 

New  York  Colonial  Documents ;  Vols.  VII,  XIV. 

Senate  Documents;  1845,  1870,  1886,  1889,  1904. 

Senate  Journals;  1793-5,  1808,  1825,  1837,  1845,  1852,  1864. 

II.  State  Reports. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  New  York  State  Department  of 
Education;  1904-1915. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  the 
State  of  New  York  (Regents'  Reports)  ;  1 788-1904.  (In 
this  study  the  date  of  the  publication  of  the  report  is  used 
although  practice  for  a  brief  period  was  to  use  the  year 
for  which  the  data  was  compiled.) 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools, 
1814-1853;  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  1854- 
1904  (Supt.  Reports). 

Dix,  John.     Common  School  Decisions   (1837). 

Finegan.  Thomas.  Judicial  Decisions  of  the  State  Super- 
intendent, 1822-1914. 

Letter  of   Commissioner  Finley   to  the  Legislature,    191 5. 

[199] 


200  THE   NEW   YORK   STATE   HIGH   SCHOOL  SYSTEM 

II.  State  Reports  —  Continued. 

Handbook  6,  Pt.  i,  General  Dept.  Publications,  1891. 

Manuals  of  the  University;  1864,  1870,  1888. 

Pratt,  Daniel.     Annuals  of  Public  Education  in  the  State  of 

New   York,   in   Convocation    Proceedings   of    1869,    1870, 

1873,   1874,   1876,   1883. 
Proceedings  of  Associated  Academic  Principals,   1885-1915. 

(vide  Ed.  Dept.,  Kept.,  1915,  pp.  274-5,  for  reference  as 

to  location  of  these  reports.) 
Proceedings    of     the    University     Convocation,     1 863-1 91 5. 

(Printed  separately  and  also  in  Regts.  Repts.) 
Regents'  Bulletins,  in  Regents'  Reports. 
Regents'  Instructions ;   1834,   1845,  1853. 
Regents'   Minutes;    1788-1904.      (In   manuscript  to    1853   at 

State  Education  Department,  Albany.) 
Regents'  Questions,  1 866-1 876.     (Published  by  C.  W.  Bar- 

deen,  Syracuse.) 

III.  Local  Reports. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Controllers  of  the   Public   Schools, 

Philadelphia,  1838-185 1. 
Annual   Reports   of  the    New    York    High    School    Society, 

1825-1833. 
Annual  Reports   of   the   New   York    Free   Academy,    1849- 

1866. 
Annual  Reports  of  the  Public  School  Society  of  New  York 

City,   1 806-1853. 
Minutes   of    the    Board    of    Education   of    New   York    City, 

1 848- 1 864. 
Register  of  Lockport  Union  School,  (MS)    1848-1856. 
Report    of    a    Committee    appointed    by    the    High    School 

Society  of  New  York,  1924. 
Report  of  a  Committee  of  the  New  York  Municipal  Society, 

1878. 

Educational  Journals 

Academician ;  Vol.  I. 

Academy;  Vols.  I-VII. 

American  Journal  of  Education ;  Vols.  I-IV. 

Annals  of  Education  ;  Vols.  I-VII. 

Bardeen,  C.  W.     History  of  Educational  Journalism  in  the 

State  of  New  York. 
Barnard,  Henry.     Journal  of  Education;  Vol.  XXIX. 
Common  School  Assistant;  Vols.  I-II. 
District   vSchool  Journal ;  Vols.    I-XII. 
New  York  Teacher ;  Vols.  I-IV. 
School  Bulletin;  Vols.  I-XX. 
School  Review;  Vols.  I-V. 


BIBLIOGKAlMn'  201 

General  Works 

I.  Education  in  the  United  States. 

Aurner.     History  of  Education  in  Iowa. 
Cubberley.     Public   School  Administration. 
Edmunds.      History  of   the   Central   High   School  of   Phila- 
delphia. 
Griscom,   John.     A   Year  in  Europe. 
Griscom,   John.      Monitorial   Instruction. 
Griscom.  J.  H.     Memoirs  of  John  Griscom. 
Inglis.     Rise  of  the  High  School  in  Massachusetts. 
Jones.  D.  R.     State  Aid  to  Secondary  Schools. 
Kiddle  and  Schem.     Cyclopedia  of  Education. 
Proceedings  of   National  Education  Association,   1896. 
Stevens.    The  History  of  the  Edinburgh  High  School  (App.) 

II.  Education  in  New  York. 

Boese.     Public  Education  in  the  City  of  New  York. 

Bourne.     History  of  Public  School  Society. 

Catalog  of  Lockport  Union  School,   1897-8. 

Chronicles  of  Erasmus  Hall  Academ}-. 

Dunshee.     History  of  the  School  of  the  Collegiate  Reformed 

Dutch  Church  in  the  City  of  New  York. 
Fairlie.       Centralization    of    Ad^ministration    in    New    York 

State. 
Fitzpatrick.   The  Educational  Views  and  Influence  of  De  Witt 

Clinton. 
French.     Gazeteer  of  the  State  of  New  York,  i860. 
History  of  Oneida  County. 
Hough.     Historical  and  Statistical  Record  of  the  University 

of  the  State  of  New  York,  1885. 
Kemp.     The  Support  of  Schools  in  Colonial  New  York  by 

the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 

Parts. 
Kilpatrick.      The    Dutch    School    of    New   Netherlands    and 

Colonial  New  York. 
Longworth's  New  York  Register. 
Miller.     The  History  of  the  Academ\-  Swstem  of  the  State 

of  New  York. 
Mosenthal  and  Horn.    City  College ;  Memoirs  of  Sixty  Years. 
Palmer.     New  York  Public  Schools. 
O'Callaghan.     Colonial  History';  Vol.  IV. 
Randall.      History  of   the    Common    School    System   of   the 

State  of  New  York,  1871. 
Renwick.     Life  of   De  Witt  Clinton. 


202  THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    HIGH    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

II.  Education  in  New  York  —  Coyitinucd. 

Seybolt.     Apprenticeship  and  Apprenticeship   Education  in 

Colonial  New  England  and  New  York. 
Smith.    History  of  the  Schools  of  Syracuse. 
Sherwood.     The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Sowers.     Financial  History  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Spafford.     Gazeteer  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Swift.    A  History  of  the  District  in  New  York  State. 
Utica  Directory;  1828,  1833. 


